Alice in Wonderland: The wrong Alice
by Captain Zex
Summary: What happened to Underland after Alice left? And when the Queen calls upon her help once again, does McTwisp bring back their Champion or someone else? Rated 'M' for later chapters. Unknown pairings as of yet.
1. Intruders

**(A/N)**

**This story is actually a dream I had, the dream stops somewhere in the third chapter, but I will continue to write more! I hope you find it as interesting as I did. R&R!**

**SUMMARY:**

**What happened after Alice left Underland? And what happens when she is called upon to help once more? What if McTwisp brings back the wrong Alice? **

**Three years have passed since Alice left Underland, but an uknown fact has prevented her to return and now another Alice Kingsly must take her anscestors place to save Underland and it's inhabitants.**

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The light from the street lamps illuminated the damp road and cast dancing shadows on the footpath. A darkly coloured sedan drove quickly past the rows of houses, ignoring their existence. There was a slight buzz from the powerlines overhead, but they didn't worry the young female making her way home. Her footsteps seemed to echo in the silent street and announce her presence to the world.

Her hands were hidden deeply in the pockets of her jacket and fog escaped her mouth every time she breathed out. The winter air rushed into her lungs and froze them with each breath. Short, white hair flicked in the breeze, trying to escape their roots. She moved briskly across the road and hopped a little as she stepped over the curb. A million thoughts raced through her mind; each one grabbing her full attention as it came to the surface.

Somewhere in the distance a car backfired, but it went unnoticed as the young female slipped her house key into its lock. She turned it and a series of clicks unlocked the door. It was pushed open and the figure walked inside, she took off her coat and shut the door. Fumbling for the light, her eyes burned when the switch was finally flicked and light filled the entry room.

Although to the naked eye the house would look pristine, untouched, clean, and amazingly immaculate. To the eyes that know roamed around the room there was something out of place and everything had a place. The pencils that were supposed to sit in a cup on the entry table were now astray from their ordered position in the house. They had been carelessly thrown where ever the intruder felt was necessary. Some on the floor some scattered across the table.

The young female, in her early twenty's, stood staring at the pencils and listening for any sound her house didn't usually make. Eerie silence seemed to smother her and soon a high pitch ringing bounced off of her eardrums. She began to walk towards the kitchen, just to make some noise to fill the silence when there was a faint sound from up stairs. The sound would have gone unnoticed if it were daytime with the bustling traffic, but tonight the streets were empty and sound seemed to reverberate through the house.

What sounded like someone shifting their weight caused the boards on the second story to creak with annoyance. Blue eyes stared at the roof as if she could see through the houses structure. Unhappy with the noise and the now eerie silence, Alice wrapped her fingers around the handle of a large carving knife. Slowly she pulled it from its home in the knife block and gripped it tightly.

Slowly, the young girl snuck up the stairs; missing the fifth one because she knew it would make a horrible creaking noise if put under any strain. Once at the top of the stairs Alice looked around to find that the light in her bedroom was on and the door was shut. She listened carefully only to hear small voices coming from behind the white door. Suddenly the voices stopped and Alice gripped the knife tighter; her knuckles turning white under the pressure.

Breathing in deeply, Alice decided that it would be to her advantage to burst through the door and stun the intruder. After finding that the stillness was too much to bare, it was time to make her move. Alice took one last breath before letting her hand hover over the door handle, a moment passed as she let go of that breath she burst into her bedroom.

Her plan worked perfectly; the intruders were definitely stunned, unfortunately so was Alice. Instead of a large, scary looking man standing there (which is what she expected) there was a series of animals, one of whom -a white rabbit in a waist coat- had seemed to have lost consciousness. Alice's eye darted from one fuzzy creature to the next there was a rabbit, a mouse, a large hare and two strangely similar boys. The mouse suddenly moved forward to kick the passed out rabbit and with one hard punt to the ribs the animal jumped into life.

The knife Alice was so fond of suddenly dropped to the floor with a loud clang. She blinked her eyes a few times before settling her gaze on the mouse; the only one so far to make an independent movement. She had noticed that all the animals were wearing clothes and that the all stood upright. With the confusion suddenly becoming too much for poor Alice she found her vision quickly blurred as she fell to the floor.

The mouse walked up to her motionless form and gently kicked her, hoping to have the same effect as the rabbit, but the young girl didn't move.

"She is most certainly Alice Kingsly, her mail said so." The rabbit in the waist coat announced.

The mouse shook her head and sighed, "This is definitely the wrong Alice."

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**(A/N)**

**So, this is just the intro and there is more. I know it's short but please read on!**


	2. Dreams are Reality

**(A/N)**

**Second chapter is here! Please review, they make me do the happy dance! XD**

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"It can't be the wrong Alice! This is Alice Kingsly, her mail says so!" The white rabbit pulled an envelope out of his waist coat and waved it in the air.

The two boys step forward, their clothing matched just as much as their looks; identical.

One of the boys poked the girl's upper arm and turned to the other, "Well, if she was she might be."

"But if she isn't she ain't." Replied the second boy.

By now the large hare that had remained quiet through the whole ordeal was finding it hard to contain himself; with a sudden outburst he picked up Alice and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Let's take her anyways!"

With this the hare dove under the bed and disappeared with Alice. The others stood in shock; soon the two boys grew tired of staring at the space under the bed and decided to follow their friend. Once they too had disappeared the white rabbit spoke up.

"I told you it was a bad idea to bring him." He huffed looking at his pocket watch.

The mouse just sighed and pushed past him to climb under the bed, followed closely by the rabbit. The trip through the portal was a short one, but Alice wasn't awake to tell the difference. With a soft thud and a slight roll the hare and the young girl landed in a strange world. All the movement caused Alice to open her eyes; she rubbed her eyes and waited for them to adjust to the difference in light and to take in her surroundings.

She found herself encircled with odd looking trees, weird insects and she was almost certain that the flowers had faces. Alice stood and slowly turned until her gaze fell upon a twitching hare who suddenly looked quite worried.

"Are you okay?" Alice asked.

"I shouldn't 'ave done that." But instead of explaining he merely burst out laughing.

"What an odd dream." The white haired girl continued to look around, choosing to ignore the manic laughter below her.

An abrupt sound caused Alice to turn around for the fourth time; it was the other creatures from her room that seemingly appeared from nowhere. She had to quickly step to the left the avoid colliding with any of them. Alice stared as the white rabbit adjusted his coat and took out his watch; it was gold with silver trim and the numbers were marked in Roman numerals. Upon seeing the time the rabbit seemed to become very frantic.

"We must get you to the White Queen at once; we're nearly late!" He explained.

"But she's the wrong Alice!" The mouse argued.

"How can I be the wrong Alice when this is my dream?" Alice looked at the group questioningly.

The rabbit turned to the mouse with an 'I-told-you-so' look on his face. "If that's not the real Alice then I don't know who is."

Finally giving in, the mouse nodded her head and the group began to wander further into the strange forest. Each of the twin boys had grabbed one of Alice's hands in their own and led her toward an enormous castle. As Alice got closer, she felt her mouth go slack; the castle looked like it touched the sky. It walls were pure white and the grass in the court yard was the most beautiful shade of green she had ever seen.

The group were greeted by overgrown chess pieces that followed them through the winding passages and proceeded to open the door to a magnificent court room. Although Alice had stopped moving out of shock, the boys continued to lead her forward. At the far end on the room a beautiful woman dressed in white stood and awaited their arrival. Once in front of the woman the others in the group stooped into very low bows. Alice on the other hand just looked around completely dumbfounded; she had never had such a vivid dream.

"Alice?" The White Queen held out her hand and waited.

Alice looked at the Queen with wide eyes, _how did she know my name? _The thought quickly fled her mind when the woman in front of her stepped closer. A hand reached out and held hers; giving it a light squeeze.

"Alice, are you okay? You look ever so different since your last visit; your hair was longer and darker." She glanced over to the others, "Are you sure this is her, no offence my love, but you don't seem to have any… umm… well…"

"Muchness." A male voice came from the far end of the court.

As he stepped closer, Alice could see that he was dressed differently to the others; his coat was old, his pants didn't quite reach the floor and his top hat seemed to be burned in places. He would appear very dull if it wasn't for his bright orange hair and colourful face. Finally he stood right in front of the new comer and she could see that his eyes were a wonderful shade of baby blue.

"And she does have muchness, Alice has always had muchness, it's just hiding, but I can see it." With this the Hatter threw his arms around Alice and gripped tighter. "I have missed you Alice, you're a bit late for tea, but I forgive you."

Gently, Alice pushed away to find the man's eyes had gone even lighter and he was blinking back tears. Her stomach clenched with guilt, she may have not known the man that stood staring at her, but he (for some strange reason) acted like he'd known her all his life. Alice looked directly into his nearly white eyes and felt her own tears well up inside her. Without warning the tears she tried so hard to hold back now rolled down her cheeks with no sign of stopping.

The Hatter once again threw his arms around Alice and she hugged back; burying her face in his neck. After a while the Queen wiped a single salty droplet from her face and cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. Alice pulled away from the strange man and gave a weak smile; rubbing her face she looked at the White Queen who appeared to be waiting for her to say something.

"I know you seem so sure of me, but I've never been here before, I must be the wrong Alice." She brushed off her pants, straightened her blouse and held out her hand, "My name is Alice Kingsly; I hope this confusion hasn't been any trouble."

The Queen reluctantly took her hand and Alice gave it a small shake.

"I love your dress by the way, is it for a costume party? Who are you supposed to be?" Alice smiled as she looked over the dress.

"This is the dress I wear when meeting with my Champion and I am Queen Miriana. No costume party." The Queen smiled, "And I think it is time for some late tea, Tarrant if you would be so kind as to escort our guest to the dining hall?"

Tarrant's eyes suddenly changed to a grass green as he smiled wildly, "Of course you're Majesty."

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**(A/N)**

**So, how do you think it's going so far? Good?**


	3. The wrong Alice is right

**(A/N)**

**And here is the third chapter, this gives you a little bit of the 'why' factor. Enjoy!**

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Before she knew what was happening, Alice found herself being led back through the winding passages and into a dining hall. The table in the middle of the room seemed to stretch on forever; it would comfortably seat over two hundred guests. Tarrant walked Alice to the other side of the table in silence and pulled out the first chair to the right of the Queens chair.

Alice sat down as the Hatter pushed the chair back in; he quickly seated himself next to Alice and smiled. Noticing movement to her right, Alice turned to see a large cat hovering midair.

"Hello Tarrant." The car spoke before grinning.

Alice gave a small squeal and dove into the Hatter's arms, yet again hiding her face in her neck. He giggled and rubbed Alice's back.

"Hello Chess, would you like to join us? We are having a spot of tea, a bit late I know, but I'm sure the conversation will be right on time." Tarrant spoke with a slight lisp, only noticeable now that Alice was paying attention.

"I'm sure my schedule will allow me to stray for a while, where is the Queen? I thought she loved tea." Chess rolled in the air still keeping his wide grin.

"She'll be here soon, speaking to McTwisp I believe." Tarrant continued to stroke Alice hair until she pulled away.

Slowly she turned to see the cat was still where she left him; right behind her. She bit back another squeal and breathed in to calm herself; Alice ran her hands through her hair and decided to be polite.

"Hello, I'm Alice." She held out her hand and as impossible as it was, the cat's smile got larger.

"_The_ Alice? I'm glad you've returned; Tarrant started to become irritating to have tea with, hardly a good conversation." Chess shook Alice's hand.

Again, Alice found herself telling another strange creature that she wasn't the person they thought she was.

"I'm sorry to inform you, but I think you have me mixed up with someone else, you see I am Alice, but not that one." Alice gave a weak smile.

"Shame, you have so much-"

"Muchness, I know" Alice interrupted and she swore she heard Tarrant giggle again.

As Chess took a seat the door at the other end of the room swung open and suddenly something was flying towards the trio. The Hatter's hand darted out and caught the object before it hit Alice. The object in question was a rather old scroll; Tarrant's eyes flashed yellow and he stared at the scroll as if touching it pained him.

"Tarrant? Are you okay?" Alice asked putting her hand on his shoulder.

His eyes retuned to bright green and his glanced at Alice.

"I'm fine."

Footsteps echoed through the large hall and Alice turned to see the Queen quickly, but beautifully glide across the floor. Trailing close behind her was the White Rabbit that Alice suspected must be McTwisp.

"Tarrant, may you please unroll the Oraculum?" Miriana graciously sat in her chair at the head of the table.

Tarrant carefully unrolled the Oraculum across the table until it show the current day, the picture on the scroll was an exact replica of what was happening that moment in the Queens dining hall. Alice watched intently as the picture slowly moved to copy her own movements.

"The Oraculum tells us of each day from the very beginning of time itself, it says that three years have past since our champion Alice was here." The Queen paused for a moment, "I must ask you something Alice."

Alice nodded for the Queen to continue.

"What year was it when you left?" Miriana was no longer smiling; in fact she looked quite upset.

"If by left, you mean before I got here then the year was 2010, why do you ask?" Alice was very curious. "_What a strange dream indeed."_

"Oh my…" McTwisp unexpectedly fell to the floor with a soft thud.

Miriana's expression dropped as did Tarrant's.

"I think I'll let you talk amongst yourselves, politics aren't really my thing." With that, the widely grinning cat vanished.

The Hatter's hands suddenly rested themselves of the table as he hung his head. "Some tea would be nice." His voice was no longer chirpy; it had changed to a distinctive Scottish drawl.

The Queen clapped her hands and a small boy carrying a tea tray burst through the door and ran towards them. Even thought his feet stopped moving about halfway up the table, his still slid across the floor, stopping beside the Hatter. He quickly places cups in front of everyone, set the tea tray down and was off again.

Tarrant grabbed his cup and poured his tea, Alice noted that he had no milk and two sugars. He breathed in the smell of tea and his body began to relax.

"As I suspected you are not our Alice, but you are a direct descendent of her and to make matter worse there is another problem that seems to have arisen." Miriana gave Alice a worried look. "This problem will affect you more than any of us."

"You're Majesty, I'm sure I can handle anything you throw at me." Alice poured her own tea, still not believing how real her dreams have become.

"It seems that when your ancestor, Alice Kingsly left Underland, she upset time in some way and even though only three years have pasted down here, decades have gone by up there." Miriana signalled to the roof, "And by being down here just over an hour, I'm afraid that a year may have past while you've been gone."

The cup that Alice was holding to her lips slowly lowered until it was resting back on its saucer. "How is that possible, how can I be asleep for a year?"

"You're not asleep Alice, this is real. She always thought it was a dream as well, the other Alice I mean." Tarrant whispered into his cup.

"It must run in the family." Alice whispered back, still slightly in shock.

Tarrant smiled, not a full one, but it was still noticeable. Miriana relaxed as she watched the small exchange between Tarrant and Alice.

"You may not be _the_ Alice, but you are still our guest and if you would like to, there is more than enough room in castle for you to stay." The Queen graciously stood up from her chair and did a curtsy before gliding out of the room.

For a long time Alice and the Hatter sat in silence sipping their tea, it was only when McTwisp came out of his trance on the floor did anyone remember he was there.

"McTwisp, you just missed the queen." Alice jumped out of her chair and put a hand on the rabbits shoulder.

"I did? Did she tell you why we brought you here in the first place?" The rabbit's nose twitched apprehensively.

"Come to think of it, she didn't. Was it important?" Alice stood up and looked down on McTwisp.

The White Rabbit straightened his waist coat and cleared his throat, grabbing Tarrant's attention along with it.

"Alice Kingsly, by order of Queen Mirana, I, Nivens McTwisp have called you forth to Underland to help with the search of Iracebeth of Crims and Ilosovic Stayne. They have escaped their chains and are said to be coming here, Alice, you must help us." Nivens looked as if he was going to pass out again.

There was an eerie stillness after he had spoken that seemed to draw on for quite some time. Suddenly Alice noticed that the Hatter was trembling all over.

"Tarrant, are you okay?" She stepped closer to find his eyes burned yellow and the circles under his eye had grown dark.

"Aye lassie, I be fine." He stood and gave a wicked smile, "But I think it's time we leave, the hunt is on."

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**(A/N)**

**And the dream ends here. Good cliff hanger though; I tried to go back to sleep for ages, but nothing worked, so from here on out it will be purely my imagination while I'm awake unless I get lucky! R&R!**


	4. Midnight Meetings

**(A/N)**

**And the fourth chapter in up, I hope you enjoy readin this. **

**Thank you for all the favourites, but reviews help me improve. =P**

**R&R!**

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It had been hours since the Hatter left the castle to do whatever it was he thought he had to do, meaning Alice had to find something to entertain herself. The queen had said that she had free rein of the castle and could go anywhere she wanted as long as it was within the white walls.

Alice sauntered through the castles structure, she didn't know where she was going nor did she care, but she knew she had better get there soon; her legs were getting tired. Alice stopped momentarily to yawn, she looked around only to find that she was lost and there was no one in the close vicinity to ask for directions.

"Oh great, now I've done it." Alice sighed heavily leaning against the wall, "I can't believe I've gone and got myself lost."

There was a cool breeze that tousled her hair, blowing it into her face. Alice flicked the loose strands out of her eyes, looked up and down the hallways; contemplating which way to go. Each hallway looked the same; white and seemingly endless.

"Back the way I came or get even more lost, well I couldn't possibly make my situation any worse." Suddenly deciding that she was no longer tired, Alice continued down her same path.

After turning down a few corridors, she came to a flight of stairs leading to a beautiful garden; the sun had long set and could be seen glowing just under the horizon. It wasn't a particularly cold night and curiosity was definitely a family trait. Descending down the stairs, Alice listened for anything that might cause her any harm, only to hear her own footsteps echoing.

"Wow, this place is stunning." Alice spun around taking in Underland's surroundings.

She looked up at the stars and breathed in deep; the air was cool and calming. A shooting star flew across the night sky just above her head so Alice closed her eyes and made a wish. She waited a moment, but when she opened her eyes she hoped against all odds to be back in her room.

Sighing at the lack of change in her surroundings, she walked over to the white garden chair that sat across the other side of the grassed area. Once there, Alice slumped down, brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Alice's breathing slowed as she thought about her situation; this couldn't possibly be real, could it? It felt real, the wind in her hair, Tarrant's fingers on her back and the stabbing pain in her stomach all felt real. Tears stung her eyes, but she talked herself out of crying.

"There's no use crying about this, even if it is real there's nothing I can do about it." She lifted her head, "I'll just have to roll with the punches and hope I survive the night at least."

"Well you won't be surviving anything if you stay out here any longer." The male voice made Alice spin around.

The man that stood before was about seven foot tall, skinny and had shoulder length black hair. He smiled at Alice and walked around the chair to stand in front of her; she noted that his shirt was ripped and there were bruises around his wrist.

"Who are you?" Alice stood cautiously; she became aware that the overly tall man had a sword on his hip.

The tall man stooped down into a low bow before grabbing Alice's hand and placing a soft kiss on the back of it. His smile was twisted and his left eye was covered by a black, tattered heart.

"The Knave of Hearts, at you service Miss…"

"Kingsly, Alice Kingsly." Alice pulled her hand away, "I'm sorry, I thought everyone had gone to bed, I didn't imagine I'd find anyone out here."

The Knave straightened up, looking down on Alice.

"Alice? Yes, I've heard about you, you're not our Champion, but I'm sure you'll do." The Knave leaned in close to Alice, his smile faded slightly, "First impressions last, so you must believe me when I say that no matter what happens, I mean you no harm."

"I don't think I understand." Alice cocked her head to the right.

The Knave chuckled and stood back up looking at Alice, she shorter than him, but so was everybody else. Alice had to crane her neck just to make eye contact, his gaze pierced through her, but she refused to look away.

"You're just like her, you even have her eyes, but I hope we get along better; you see she didn't like me very much. Now I think it's best you go to bed Alice, there are a lot of dangerous creatures that lurk in the dark." He place a hand on her shoulder a gently pushed her in the direction of the castle.

"Won't you walk me to my room?" Alice turned to see the Knave smiling again.

"I don't think the Queen would appreciate me walking through her castle at night, not even at the request of yours truly." He bowed and kissed the back of her hand before turning to leave.

"Knave?" Alice stood on the grass looking very out of place; her black blouse, black jeans and black shoes only made her short white hair stand out.

He turned and raised an eyebrow, "Yes Alice?"

She stepped forward, but stopped before she got to close, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight Alice." With this the Knave broke out into a sprint and a few moments later Alice swore she could hear a horse galloping.

Shrugging, Alice turned back toward the castle and began her journey back through the winding passages and endless corridors. As she walked Alice took note of differences in the décor so that she wouldn't become lost again. Eventually, at around what Alice suspected was midnight, she entered the room the Queen had allowed her to use during her stay.

The room was large with the bed being the main focal point of the room, on one side of the room was a dresser, chair and small bookshelf. On the other side was a bedside table with a white rose in a crystal vase. Alice searched the room for clothes only to find dresses and corsets, but after a while her hunt ended when she discovered a silk slip.

"Well it's better than sleeping naked." She pulled the slip over her head and climbed into bed.

She laid there motionless for a moment, staring at the roof before a smile crept across her face. "I wonder if Tarrant would like to make me some clothes."

Alice turned on her side and looked out the window; the sun had completely set and the stars shone brightly in the velvet sky. Soon enough her eyes couldn't stay open any longer and Alice felt her consciousness slip away.

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**(A/N)**

**I know it's a bit short, but I promise the next will be longer (even if it's only by a few words!)**

**Please review!**


	5. A Matter of Muchness

**(A/N)**

**I hope you like this one, if people don't quite seem right (a bit ooc) please tell, I am trying to keep them as in character as possible. Thank you in advance for any comments I have/will recieve, they mean a lot.**

**Enjoy!**

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The morning sun filled the room with beautiful shades of orange, pink and yellow. Alice turned over, pulling the sheets higher to block out the light. A long and drawn out yawn escaped her lips before she threw the sheets aside, she slipped out of the bed and her feet were met by a cold stone floor. It took Alice a moment for her to realise where she was, looking around she remembered the night's events and the fact that she had no clothes.

Suddenly a knocking sound broke the silence and Alice ran towards the door, flinging it open she found Tarrant standing there; his cheeks quickly turning red,

"Umm… Alice… I…" Tarrant seemed to be looking everywhere else but at Alice.

"Yes Tarrant, what is it?" She put a hand on his cheek, "Are you okay?"

His eyes suddenly locked with hers; sky blue stared at violet. The Hatter cleared his throat and did a quick bow, Alice giggled at the way he kept his eyes closed.

"Umm, Alice, you're wearing a slip… by itself, with nothing else." Tarrant tried very hard to keep his violet eyes from wandering any further than Alice's face.

"Yes, yes I am." Alice raised an eyebrow, "I was going to ask if would be able to make me some clothes, the ones here don't really suit me. The Queen mentioned something about you being good with a needle and thread."

Tarrant smiled at the Queen's compliment, "I am quite good."

Alice stood aside, symbolically inviting the Hatter into her room; he hesitated but accepted the offer. Shutting the door, Alice made her way over to the pile of clothes carelessly thrown on the chair. She collected them into her arms and looked over at the Hatter.

"Let me just get dressed and then you can take my measurements." She watched the Hatter nod, but not move, "Tarrant."

"Yes Alice?"

"Could you please turn around?" Alice smiled as the Hatter's eye went wide as he quickly turned around.

Without wasting any time, Alice began to get dressed.

"Oh, Tarrant, why did you come here in the first place?" Alice asked as she put her blouse on and fought with the buttons.

"That's right; I came here to tell you that the Queen has requested your presents at this morning's breakfast." Tarrant smiled, "It will be served in the main dining hall."

Alice froze for a second, _"I don't know how to act around these people and now they want me to have breakfast with them?"_

She quickly pulled her jeans up and dove for her shoes and socks, racing against herself to do up the laces.

"Okay, done." Alice stood with her arms out and watched as the Hatter turned around with a wide smile plastered on his face.

"And now for your measurements." With this Tarrant pulled out a measuring tape from what seemed like thin air.

He walked up to Alice and paused. With lightning movement, the Hatter was a blur as he took Alice's measurements; pushing and prodding her into place and he mentally noted all the different numbers. Suddenly he stopped and reached around Alice's torso, he held the tape with his fingertips around her chest; hand slightly shaking.

"I need you to breathe in to get an accurate reading." Tarrant's voice was small as he tried to steady his hands.

Alice complied and held back a laugh as Tarrant's eye widened as the tape moved a further four centimetres; she was quite happy with her breast size. Tarrant let the tape drop and he began to roll it back up into a neat ball.

"So what was it my lady was looking for? A ball gown? Or maybe an outfit for tea?" Tarrant smiled again and waited for a response.

"Well actually, I need some more pants and tops, maybe a couple of skirts, but we'd have to speak about what kind of skirts." Alice's mind raced as she thought of all the clothes she could have, but the Hatter's expression caught her attention.

"Pants and tops for a lady?" His confused face made Alice giggle, "I don't quite understand."

"Tarrant, where I'm from girls can wear dresses and pants, it doesn't matter." Alice placed her hand on his cheek again, "Now, for the pants do you have any material like this?"

Alice took her hand away from Tarrant's face and grabbed at her jeans, giving the material a bit of a pull. The Hatter's attention dropped to Alice's pants and he felt the material, inspected it and made a small grunt.

"I might, but I'd have to look around." Without any warning Tarrant lifted Alice's top and inspected the seams and pockets. "How interesting."

"Think you've got it?" Alice asked and smiled at the Hatter's enthusiastic nod, "Okay, one last question, when's breakfast?"

Tarrant looked up and cocked his head to the side, "Now of course."

This time it was Alice's eyes that bulged and within a second she ran out of the room and down the hall, leaving Tarrant standing in her room. Luckily for Alice, the main dining hall was about the only thing she knew how to get to and was glad to see there were a few people still making their way there. She ran down the room and almost dove into her chair next to the Queen before jumping back out of it to bow.

"Alice, please sit down." Mirana gestured to the chair that Alice had just hopped out of and Alice sat down.

Alice looked at the guests that now sat around her and she noticed something odd; all the other humans seemed to be further down the table, whereas the animals were sat closer to the Queen. Alice recognised McTwisp who was sitting opposite to her, next to him sat the mouse and hare that were in Alice's room the night she came to Underland. Next to Alice was an empty seat where she guessed the Hatter normally sat, but next to that were the twin boys.

"Alice, are you okay?" The Queens question almost went unnoticed as Alice mentally spoke to herself.

"Yes your highness, it's just, I'm not used to this kind of treatment." Alice sighed and looked at the Queen, "I don't even know how to act at this sort of occasion."

Mirana smiled at Alice, "its okay my dear, things go a bit differently here, I just hope you know how to duck."

"Duck?" But before Alice could ask why a scone hit her arm.

Alice glanced at the scone, but then raised her head to see the hare and the mouse laughing hysterically. Not knowing what was considered proper here, (and not really caring), Alice just threw the scone back, hitting the hare square between the eyes. His laughter stopped momentarily and Alice feared the worse, but all fears were demolished when a tea cup came back at her. She ducked just in time for it to pass over her head and shatter on the wall behind her; the laughter began again.

"I could get used to this." Alice laughed as she picked up a spoon and used it to hit away another scone earning her a cheer from the twins.

Unlike the other animals, McTwisp just seem to duck at everything and didn't throw anything; his nose twitched furiously as scones and eggs flew past him. Alice laughed as the mouse and the hare got into a sword fight with forks. Realising that she hadn't eaten anything yet, Alice quickly stuffed a scone in her mouth as she avoided more flying utensils and food. The scone was followed by a mouthful of tea before the cup was thrown; Alice tried to catch an airborne egg that came towards her in her teeth, but only caught a little bit of it.

"Thackery, pass the butter." The mouse asked the hare who scooped the butter up in a spoon and flung it at her; she caught it in her own spoon and smeared it on a bun before sitting down and nibbling on it.

Even though the food fight had come to an end, Thackery insisted on continuing by himself which no one seemed to mind. Slowly, people left the dining hall once they had eaten their fill and the room soon became very quiet apart from the occasional crash for the crazed hare.

"I hope you've had enough to eat Alice." The Queen smiled.

"Yes your majesty, I've had enough." Alice leaned back in her chair and rested her hands on the back of her head; fingers playing with her hair.

"I don't wish to push the subject seeing as you've only just arrived, but we still have two wanted criminals on the loose; Ilosovic Stayne and Iracebeth of Crims. Now we don't know how they escaped their chains, but I must warn you that they are extremely dangerous." The Queen's smile had faded.

"But I don't see what it's got to do with me, what am I supposed to do?" Alice didn't change her position.

"You must defeat them and send them back into exile." Mirana leaned in closer, "If you don't, we could have a war on our hands." With this the Queen stood and drifted out of the room.

"But no pressure." Alice sarcastically said to herself.

Across the table Thackery had become preoccupied with a large ladle and McTwisp had seen this as the perfect opportunity to escape while there was nothing flying at him. He silently climbed out of his chair and raced off leaving the others behind.

"So how are you gonna do it?" Asked the mouse.

"Excuse me, do what?" Alice looked over at the mouse.

"Get rid of 'em of course, I reckon you should just off 'em and finish this once and for all." The mouse ran her thumb across her throat after she spoke.

Alice stood up and brushed the crumbs off of her shirt, "I don't know, I guess I'll decide that when the time comes."

She turned and made her way out of the dining hall, heading for Tarrant's room. After walking for a while Alice realised that she didn't actually know where the Hatter's room was, or if he even lived here.

"I really need to learn how to ask for directions." Looking up and down the halls, Alice just shrugged and headed back to her own room.

Upon arriving at her door, Alice found it was open and there was a voice on the other side. Cautiously stepping into the room, Alice discovered that the voice was Tarrant's.

"Hatter?" The white haired girl walked up to the man and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump and spin around.

"Oh Alice, it's you." His smile grew wider as he stepped aside to reveal a pile of different coloured boxes, "I hope you like them."

Alice was in shock, there was about twelve boxes all stacked up into a neat pile. She walked up to the boxes and opened the first one and pulled out its contents. Alice held the jeans up to her legs and did a little spin.

"How did you make these in such a short time?" Alice asked.

"Well they took a little longer then usual because I was new to the design, but I hope they'll do." The Hatter turned away to hide the fact that he was blushing.

The jeans that Alice was holding were black with little tea cups on the back pockets. She placed the jeans on her bed and opened another box and pulled out the shirt. It was a deep red, short sleeved, button up with black pinstripes; Alice placed it next to the jeans to open more boxes.

"I feel like a little kid at Christmas." Alice said excitedly.

Not knowing what Christmas was, Tarrant decided to remain quiet on the subject, instead he just watched Alice's eyes shine with excitement. The third box contained another short sleeved, button up, but this one was white and had a rose on the pocket.

"Oh Tarrant, these are all wonderful, I can't thank you enough." Alice wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek, only making his blush deepen.

"I made you something special." Tarrant unhooked Alice's arms and walked over to the boxes, picking up one from behind the pile, he handed it to Alice.

Alice grabbed the box and opened the lid and just stared inside it.

"I know you said we'd talk about what kind of skirts you'd like, but I thought you might like this one." Tarrant grabbed the kilt out of the box and gave it a shake.

"It's beautiful." Alice dropped the empty box a grabbed the kilt from Tarrant, "Turn around."

Tarrant did as he was told and waited, moments later there was a small tapping on his shoulder. When he turned back around, Tarrant's smile would easily make Chess jealous.

"It's a bit shorter then I intended, but I like it." Tarrant said.

The kilt came to Alice's mid thigh and she fought back the urge to tell him it was in fact longer than her other skirts. She did a little twirl, but then looked at her shoes and frowned.

"They don't really match, do they?" Alice took off her shoes and socks and wriggled her toes.

Tarrant ignored the comment and went over to the boxes grabbing another one, when he came back he saw Alice playing with the pouch at the front of the kilt. He handed her the box and almost burst with anticipation. Alice opened the box and gave a little squeal of delight.

"They're so cool." Alice fell to the floor and immediately put on the knee high socks and the black dress shoes; the shoes were more feminine than the Hatters, but they still looked good.

Alice stood and quickly pulled the socks up further so that only a small patch of skin was showing. She raced over the bed and grabbed the red blouse, not even bothering to tell Tarrant this time; Alice fought with her buttons and tore off the old blouse to put on the new one. Once the buttons were all done up Alice ran back over to the Hatter and almost knocked his over as she hugged him.

"Thank you so much Tarrant," She pulled away, "So how's this for muchness?"

Tarrant's smile never left his face, "Much more much-ier than before."

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**(A/N)**

**I hope you liked this chapter and the next one will be up either by the end of today or tomorry... WTF is 'Tomorry'? I meant to say tomorrow, but tomorry sounds funnier so I didn't backspace it.**

**BYE!**


	6. Why me?

**(A/N)**

**It's kind of hard to type this because my cat's asleep o my arms and if I move his claws sinking into my skin. But on a lighter note, here is another chapter and I hop eit meets you standards, thank you.**

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The Hatter had long since left Alice alone in her room with her new clothes; he had taken some of the empty boxes, but let her keep some to store the outfits in. White hair paced up and down the room; Alice was extremely bored and she wasn't to sure what people around here did for fun. Tarrant had his dress making, Mallyumkin had her fighting practice, McTwisp had his errands and Thackery had his spoon. It seemed that the only one who didn't have anything to do was Alice.

"I can't take this anymore!" Alice stamped her foot, "I need to do something."

She quickly changed out of her kilt, Tarrant had told her that they were only worn during battle or special occasions; instead she chose to wear her new jeans. Alice grabbed the key she had found in her dresser and stepped out of the door; she slid the key into the lock and gave it a turn. She removed the key and jiggled the handle, making sure it locked properly; satisfied with her efforts, Alice began her journey.

The White Castle was a large building with many floors and even more rooms, but Alice was still finding it difficult to occupy herself. As she walked, she traced her hand over the flawless walls, columns and banisters. Hours ticked by and Alice encountered very few people.

"I wonder where everyone is, it's barely lunch time and there's no one here." Alice said out loud.

Without warning, McTwisp came bounding round the corner and nearly crashed into Alice's legs. He stopped just in time and held up an envelope, Alice took the envelope and he was off again before she could ask who it was from.

Opening the envelope, Alice was hit with a musky smell that invaded her nostrils and nearly caused her to loose her balance. She closed her eyes and let the smell encircle her entire body; never in her life could Alice remember being so effected by a mere scent. She finally regained her composure and opened the letter, it read:

_Dear Alice,_

_I would be delighted if you would be so kind as to join me for dinner at the far end of the chess board at eight thirty tonight. Please come alone and inform no one of this meeting._

_Sincerely, Your Knave._

"My Knave?" Alice mumbled, "Well at least I have something to do tonight, but it still doesn't help my boredom now."

She stuffed the letter into her pocket and continued walking through the corridors. A clock somewhere chimed midday and suddenly the hall was full of people; all bustling in a similar direction. Deciding that she was indeed hungry, Alice followed the crowd back to the dining hall.

As she trailed behind the group, Alice picked up on pieces of peoples conversations; most of them were about they're days events so far, but the select few were about the prisoners who had escaped.

"Poor Mirana, imagine having to be related to that horrible creature." The lady next to her nodded in agreement.

"And that Stayne, the families he's destroyed will soon get the closure they need when he's gone."

Alice was so intrigued and annoyed with the conversation she didn't even realise that she was almost at her seat.

"Alice, how is your day so far?" The Queens question, for the second time today, snapped her out of her trance.

"Fine your Majesty, and yours?" Alice gave a small bow before seating herself; she was slowly getting used to being around royalty and not having a job to go to.

"Yes, my day is going splendidly." Mirana smiled as her hands moved with her words.

People filed into the hall and began to eat the food that was already set out. Alice smiled as she caught a glimpse of bright orange darting through the swarm of white. Within moments, Tarrant was sitting in his chair and piling food onto a plate.

"What's the rush Tarrant?" Alice asked, taking her time to put food on her own plate.

"Once you've been here a while, you'll learnt to eat before Thackery get's here." His eyes didn't move from his plate as he practically inhaled its contents.

Taking this advice to heart, Alice hurried her pace and finished just as the March Hare and Mally reached the table. Alice soon noticed that everyone was uncannily quiet; even Thackery's flying food seem half heartedly done, though he still insisted on doing it. She had only been there a day and Alice already knew that something was wrong and she fought with herself whether she should raise the subject or not.

Eventually, it was the Queen who saw Alice's discomfort; she had watched her push her plate away and then proceed to fiddle with her napkin; tearing little bits off at a time.

"Alice, is there something that troubles you?" The Queen raised her darkly coloured eyebrows in concern.

The young girl looked up at the Queen and knew that she had to answer; now would be the best time to bring it up.

"You see your Majesty, it's just that everyone seems quieter than usual and I thought that something might be wrong." Alice almost cringed; was she supposed to ask if she could speak freely first? No that was that army, but would it still apply?

"You wouldn't be wrong Alice, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Mirana paused, her smile fading, "Ilosovic has been spotted close to the castle without Iracebeth, which means that they have in fact escaped their cuffs and are working separately."

"Oh." Alice couldn't say much else, she knew it was up to her to stop anything bad from happening, but she couldn't help but feel… helpless.

Mirana could see the battle that went on behind the young girl's eyes, the confusion, the anger and the guilt all showed themselves.

"But I'm just a hairdresser, I cut hair not throats." Alice took a deep breath to calm herself, "How can you expect me to just pick up a sword and win?"

It was the Hatters turn to speak; he had held his tongue this long and it was important that Alice knew certain things.

"It's in your blood," Alice turned to face him, "When the time comes you will know exactly what to do; I expect you're a good judge of character as well."

Tarrant's face seemed to glow as he spoke; suddenly he stood and gave a bow to the Queen before grabbing Alice's hand and placing a kiss on the back of it. He left nearly as quickly as he arrived. His job was one that kept him busy.

Alice was finding this world even more confusing and the pressure that was on her to succeed made things worse. Her stress levels began to rise the more she thought about what she had to do; a heat in her chest hurt and made it hard to breathe, then everything became very annoying. Every little thing. The sound of people chewing, the buzz of indistinguishable conversation and the chiming of knives scratching plates all started to ring in Alice's ears. The weight of the world, of this world rested solely on Alice's shoulders, the chair fell as Alice stood and suddenly all annoying sounds ceased.

"I can't do this!" Alice yelled turning to the Queen, "First you drag me from my world, my life, friends and family without a second thought, then you tell me that I have to do this task or there'll be a war." Alice's temper rose as she spoke and she knew that people had started leaving the room.

"I don't want to be told what to do, I don't like it, and I never have. You have torn me away from everything I've ever known with no chance of returning and you just want me to adapt? When did you think it would be a good time to ask me what I wanted?"

The question seemed to hover in front of the Queens face, mocking her authority. Alice didn't let her reply; instead she stormed out of the room to her own. Tears streamed down as she fumbled with the key; dropping it twice before she could actually unlocked the door.

Once the door was free of its locks it swung open; Alice stepped inside and slammed it shut again. She discarded the key to the dresser and flung herself onto her bed; it creaked at the sudden weight. Alice lay there; face in hands and lying on her stomach for what felt like hours just crying, but she never heard the clock chime another hour.

A knock at the door broke the heavy silence that had filled the room; wiping her face, Alice stood up and answered the door. Although Tarrant had been smiling, at the sight of the saddened girl in front of him, his face dropped and his eyes changed to an icy blue to match the ones that were staring back.

"Are you okay Alice? The Queen said you weren't feeling good, is that true?" He spoke with such innocence that Alice couldn't be angry at him for interrupting her.

"I'm fine." She turned and walked back to the bed, sitting cross legged.

Tarrant followed, but as he reached the bed he hesitated; it wasn't proper to sit on a bed with a young lady unless you were… well let's stick with married. A small hand patted a spot on the bed and Tarrant complied, climbing onto the bed he also crossed his legs and placed his hands in his lap.

"Tarrant, I don't know what to do anymore." Alice didn't look up, but Tarrant knew she was crying.

Not knowing what to do himself, he just held out his hands. Alice took them then adjusted herself so she could rest her head on his legs. The Hatter's eyes widened and he couldn't move, was this normal in Alice's world? Her fingers curled around his as she wept, her tears marked his trousers, but he didn't mind. They sat there for a long time and soon Alice stopped crying. After a moment after she sat up and looked at the Hatter; he too had been crying and Alice felt sort of guilty.

They both wiped away their tears and slid off of the bed; the Hatter straightened his shirt and adjusted his jacket.

"Tarrant?" Alice's voice was still a bit quiet, but it didn't go unheard.

"Yes Alice." Tarrant's voice also seemed different to his usual chirpy manner.

"Would you be able to make me a dress if I was to draw it for you?" Alice had suddenly remembered that she had a dinner date to go to and didn't have anything to wear.

"Of course I can." Some of the happiness returned to his voice, "May I ask what it's for?"

"I'm going to dinner and I need something nice." Alice rummaged through the dresser before she found some paper, an inkwell and a quill.

Alice braced herself for the worst as she dipped the quill into the ink and placed it on the paper; having never used a quill before, she found it quite strange and half expected it to explode. After the first few lines were drawn, Alice became more confident and quickly finished her drawing. Although it wasn't perfect, Alice described a few things to Tarrant before she sent him away.

"I would like it made of black silky material or something like it, can it be corseted and cut of here," Alice indicated a point on her chest. "I want it to be tight fitting, but also have movement, does that even sound possible?"

The Hatters eyes were once again wide and Alice wondered if she would be the reason if they ever fell out of their sockets.

"I do believe I can do this," He paused, "I think."

"Thank you so much." Alice flung her arms around Tarrant's neck a hugged him; he nervously hugged back.

Tarrant left the room with the piece of paper and shut the door behind him; Alice on the other hand felt that a nap was in order and began to undress. Alice had come to the conclusion that Tarrant must have seen her underwear at some point because in one of the boxes he had left behind were several new pairs that resembled her own. She had a quick bath and washed her hair with what she suspected was shampoo, then got out and changed into a pair of her new underwear.

Alice quickly discovered that he hadn't made her any bras, but she didn't mind, she wouldn't need a bra with the dress she was going to be wearing anyway. She pulled the slip over her head and climbed back into bed; it was still warm from when Tarrant and she were sitting on it. Alice snuggled into the sheets and closed her eyes and slowly she drifted off to sleep.

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**(A/N)**

**Building up for some trouble I expect, please review and tell me what you think!**


	7. Who are you?

**(A/N)**

**I hope this chapter is as good as you have hoped it would be, because I love it! I apologise in advance for any 'sappyness', but it was probably because the story will eventually beomce serious. (If I get anymore time to write it.) Please enjoy and reviews are always welcomed, in fact they're incouraged.**

**ALSO!**

**This particular chapter in dedicated to Luna4816... because I can dedicate this to people.**

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The clock on the far wall near the door chimed eight o'clock, waking Alice with a jolt. For a moment she wondered why the time was so important, dinner was at six… but not her dinner.

"Oh my gosh!" Alice dove from her bed and stood in the middle of the room frantically waving her hands about, "My dress, where's my dress?"

Sitting, carefully placed over the back of the chair was a beautifully made black, silken dress. Alice's heart skipped a beat when she saw it, cautiously walking over to it, she picked it up as if were to crumble at any second. Her eyes looked over every detail, every perfect detail. Tarrant had taken her idea and turned it into a master piece.

Without wasting any more time she took the dress into the bathroom and put it over the towel rack, careful not to crinkle it. Alice stripped off and hoped into the ready bath.

"I wonder who keeps drawing these baths anyways; I don't think I've ever had to touch the taps." Alice wondered to herself.

The question was soon forgotten, out of all the strange things that have happened and were going to happen, mysteriously filled bathtubs were the least of her worries.

Alice felt the warm water wash away the grogginess she always felt after waking up and she hoped that whoever or whatever was drawing the bath for her didn't mind doing it so often. Her bathroom wasn't a large one like Alice suspected the Queen had, but she found it to be quite nice nonetheless. The room had the same marbled finish that most of the castle had and the same white columns supporting the roof, even if they were for decoration.

A glance in the mirror caught Alice's attention, just behind her left shoulder was a few purposely place objects. Turning around, Alice found that there was a different scent of soap and shampoo waiting for her. As she went to grab them she noticed that there was a note at the other end of the bath; almost leaping at the unsuspecting piece of paper, Alice managed to get water everywhere but on the note.

Only using her fingertips to open the letter so not to smudge the writing Alice read it out loud.

"_Dear Alice,_

_I hope you enjoy the new soap and shampoo. They are my personal favourite; vanilla and sandal wood. I await your arrival at the far end of the chess board._

_Sincerely, you're Knave._

_P.S_

_The chess board is behind the castle; just follow the white pebbled path to the end."_

"Well, he knows how to treat a girl; presents and dinner, what a gentleman." Alice let the letter drop to the floor as she opened the bottle of shampoo and suddenly her senses were in a frenzy.

The same smell that intoxicated her when she received the Knave's last letter now took a hold of her and gently pushed her back. She sighed and put a small amount of the mind altering product into her hand and massaged it into her scalp.

"I think I should start locking my door, the Queen might see it as improper if men keep walking in and out as they please." She sunk under the waters surface to wash her face.

After rinsing the shampoo out of her hair, Alice felt fully revived, like her whole body was dipped in mint mouth wash.

Quickly washing her body with the soap provided and dunking her head under the water to rid herself of any excess bubbles, Alice stood up, carefully got out of the bath and walked over to grab a towel. After making sure she was completely dry, Alice eyed the dress, she wrapped the white towel around her body and ran to get clean underwear before racing back; making sure the dress was still where she left it.

Alice put the dress on as if she was handling a priceless artefact until she realised that Tarrant had put a lace up corset on the dress, not just the boning with a zip. After many grunts and awkward arm positions later, Alice had done up the dress and tied the thick black ribbon into, what she suspected to be, a messy bow. She moved around a bit; sitting, walking and jumping, to see how well the dress fitted and how much movement it had and just as she thought it would be, the dress was perfect.

Her dress reached the floor with a small bit that seemed to drag behind her; the back was mostly open except for the black ribbon that crossed her skin. The corset gave her a small waist and pushed her breasts into place, giving her cleavage to die for. Although the dominating colour was black, at the top of the corset was glitter that looked like stars falling from her dress and she made a mental note to thank Tarrant for his genius. Alice, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't figure out how a Mad Hatter could make such a beautiful dress.

Alice ran her hand through her hair one last time before looking at the clock; eight twenty two.

"Maybe I should get going," Alice headed for the door, but paused and wriggled her toes; she looked down to see the little pink digits poking out from her dress. "But I don't have any shoes."

She gave a longing glance at the shoes she came to Underland with and then to the ones that the Hatter had given her, but neither were appropriate for the occasion.

"Barefoot it is." Alice didn't really want to be in high heels anyway and it wasn't like you could tell she didn't have shoes on unless she lifted her dress.

Alice practically ran through the castle; stopping for no one. She suspected that she looked like a run away bride even though she was all in black. Her heart was beating in her chest like someone in a marching band would beat a drum; loud and fast. Her pulse reverberated in her ears, but she was determined to be on time.

Once Alice reached the bottom of the stairs, the cold air hit her like a ton of bricks and she contemplated going back to her room and standing the Knave up. Figuring that she'd rather be cold than bored, she continued. She found the pebble path with no problem and followed it; Alice half expected the small stones to hurt her feet, but instead they seemed to massage them and take away all of her stress and worries.

The closer she came to the small light in the distance, the more nervous she began to feel.

"There are two wanted criminal on the loose and I'm having dinner with a man I've met once," Alice paused in her steps, "What if he's that Stayne guy?"

Alice looked over at the light, the wind caught her hair and the smell of her shampoo drifted up her nose, she inhaled deeply and smiled.

"If he was so dangerous he would have killed me by now." Deciding that the Knave was in fact good, she continued walking down the path.

Alice got closer and closer to the light at the end of the path, she looked back at the castle, longing for someone to stop her, but they never came. It was only when she turned back around did she notice that the Knave was standing in front of her; staring down at her.

"Good evening Alice." The Knave's voice dripped with seduction, "Please join me."

He held out his hand and Alice took it; she was still in shock at how quickly and silently he had approached her, but she grabbed his hand and was escorted to the lone table on the grass. Although the night was cold, the nearer they got to the table, the warmer the temperature got.

Two chairs sat opposite each other at the dark wooden table, the Knave pulled out the closest one and allowed Alice to sit down before taking his own seat. Alice took in her surroundings as best she could; the candle on the tabletop being the only source of light made it difficult to see much else other than what was directly in front of her. At this moment in time it was the Knave, his wicked smile pulling at the scar on his face.

She wondered how he got it; was it done in battle, maybe he was defending someone, or maybe he's just clumsy and did it himself. Trying not to stare was becoming an internal battle, he was yet to say anything, in fact the Knave seemed quite happy to watch Alice's confused face crinkle and uncrinkle with her thoughts. It was only when Alice's stomach made a very rude gurgling sound did she remember that this was a _dinner_ date and she was hungry.

The Knave's smile widened as he reached behind his chair and grabbed two plates from a tray that Alice didn't remember seeing on her way over. He set the plates in front of both Alice and himself, then reached back around and grabbed the cutlery. Alice accepted the knife and fork and waited politely for any sign that showed she was allowed to eat, but nothing happened. In fact the Knave just seemed to mirror her actions; not advancing, but not showing any signs of leaving.

"Aren't you hungry?" The Knave spoke calmly, "I'm sure you must be, let me help you."

Instead of starting on his own meal, the Knave picked up his fork and stabbed and strange piece of food that resembled blue broccoli and leaned across the table. He didn't have to lean far for his long limbs assisted in reaching Alice's mouth without his bum ever leaving his seat. The strange broccoli touched Alice's lips and she opened her mouth, allowing herself to be fed.

The fork entered her mouth and she closed her lips around it, pulling her head back a bit to release the utensil. Alice slowly chewed the food; apprehensive of how it would taste and much to her surprise it tasted almost exactly like broccoli. Another smile snuck across the Knave's face as one appeared on Alice's.

"Good?" He asked already cutting up a bite size piece of mystery meat from his own plate.

Alice nodded and yet again allowed the Knave to place something foreign in her mouth and again she began to slowly chew her food; analysing the taste. Although its texture reminded her strongly of chicken, the actual taste was like roast pork with a slight tang that left an after taste that made Alice want more. Instead of waiting for the Knave to feed her again, Alice picked up her own knife and fork and began to eat.

Smiling, the Knave started on his own meal and for a long time they ate in silence, Alice found that she enjoyed trying to match the taste of Underland's food to the ones she remembers back home.

"This is amazing!" Alice said around a bit of food that looked like a miniature pineapple, but tasted like baby carrots.

"I'm glad you like it." The Knave looked up at Alice as if he were peering over a pair of glasses.

Suddenly Alice's mind told her it was a trap and she dropped her fork.

"Is it poisoned?" Alice asked; it would make sense to try and kill the Queens champion.

The Knave also dropped his fork, but he did so due to laughter, when he finally got a breath he spoke.

"Of course not," He chuckled again, "What a strange way to start a conversation, as you can see, you are free to leave at anytime. Do you wish to leave Alice?"

Alice was confused by the question, did she want to leave? No, dinner had been going wonderfully and she really was hungry. She shook her head and picked up her fork, the Knave nodded and also continued to eat; silence fell again.

"How are you enjoying your stay in Underland?" The Knave didn't look up from his plate this time.

"Yeah, its okay, but I don't think it's a _stay_." Alice paused, "The way the Queen said it, there was no way I could go back and it be the same time it was when I left."

"Oh?" At this little piece of information the Knave looked up and right into Alice's eyes.

"Something about the other Alice upsetting time when she left and know, get this, I have to find these two criminals and send them back into banishment." Alice sighed in annoyance. "I didn't even get a choice; I was basically told that if I don't do it, there would be war."

"Sounds a bit unfair to place such responsibility on one person, couldn't the Queen do anything?" The Knave took another bite on the meat.

"You'd think so, but I reckon she just doesn't want to get her hands dirty. Tarrant said something about it being against her vows to harm any living creature." Alice looked down at her plate realising it was empty, she placed her cutlery on the empty plate and continued.

"These two criminals, Ilosovic and Iracebeth didn't even get a trail, did you know that?" Alice didn't wait for an answer, "Mirana just sent them away, so they were either really bad people or the Queen just likes being cruel and for some reason she doesn't seem like the kind of person to do things out of spite."

The Knave finished his food and Alice watched his expressions closely; if he was Stayne then was keeping very calm. He put down him knife and fork, reached across the table and gently held Alice's hands.

"You know that I would never hurt you, do you believe that?" He spoke slowly and looked deep into her eyes.

Alice looked back, searching for anything and that's when she saw it; a small glint that flashed across his uncovered eye. Her heart began to beat furiously in her chest and she was sure that the Knave could feel her pulse because he gave her hands a light squeeze.

"You're him aren't you, you're Ilosovic Stayne." Alice couldn't move.

"Do you believe me?" The Knave insisted on an answer.

She couldn't voice any words, there were so many things swirling in her head.

"_This is the man I have to send away? But he's so nice, or maybe he's just a good actor… He seems so desperate, what could have possibly done to deserve this kind of treatment? What if he's killed someone? What if he's going to kill me? His grip is getting tighter, come on mouth move!"_

"Yes, I believe you." To bad Alice couldn't believe herself.

Suddenly Ilosovic let go of Alice and his smile returned, "Thank you Alice. Now, how about dessert?"

Not wanting to be rude or break his trust, Alice accepted the bowl put in front of her; she looked at it for a while. It looked like ice-cream, but how would it taste?

"You don't need help eating this as well, do you?" Stayne's voice was the same seductive tone he'd used before and it made Alice's heart melt.

She didn't fight him off when his spoon was held to her lips, nor did she refuse him when he continued to do the same action over and over again. The ice-cream looking substance proved to be the most sweet and most delicious dessert she had even had; tasting mostly like caramel.

Alice was concentrating so hard on the Knave's face she didn't notice that Ilosovic's chair had become closer to her own or that he was also feeding himself with the same spoon or that a tiny bit of ice-cream had escaped her mouth. Before she was able to wipe away the escapee a hand stopped hers and Stayne leaned closer; Alice couldn't move; was this man really that numbing?

Suddenly a tongue slipped out and caught the ice-cream, but instead of moving away he just hovered there looking down on Alice. Her breathing hitched, all her thoughts coming to an abrupt halt as she just lived in this moment; this almost perfect moment. Almost wasn't good enough and so Alice found herself acting on impulse; she leaned forward and closed the gap between her and Ilosovic.

Alice felt his hand rest on her cheek as the other ran through her hair, using it to pull her closer. Her hands also went for his hair; his was longer than hers, but it smelled the same. He gently pulled back, leaving Alice breathless and confused, he smiled and pulled their lips back together and traced them with his tongue until they parted and allowed him access.

When they finally pried themselves from each other, Alice looked at the man who sat before her; tall, dark and handsome, how cliché. He stared back, his classic smile finding its way back on his face, he looked into her glazed over eyes; thy barely showed any life, but they held many questions. Stayne put his finger on her lips to shush Alice before she built up the courage to speak.

"Let's leave it at that." He said simply.

Alice nodded slowly and when Stayne pulled away his hand she put her fingers on her own lips and looked up at him; eyes wide.

"Now I can take you back to your room, but it won't be the same way you came out." Again all he received was another nod and questioning eyes.

Ilosovic smiled at Alice's innocence and stood; she slowly followed suit. He held out his hand and waited. Alice looked at his hand then up to his face and back again; she reached out and grabbed it. They walked quietly towards the castle, but instead of following the white pebble path the whole way, Stayne turned slightly to alter their direction. They walked around the back of the castle until Ilosovic stopped and picked Alice up before she could protest; he put her on his back wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hold on." He spoke and Alice's grip tightened.

Alice had closed her eyes, she had felt movement and she could hear Ilosovic making quiet grunts; when the movement stopped she had talked herself into opening her eyes. The first thing Alice noticed was that she was no longer on Stayne's back, but in his arms and that his face was moving closer. The kiss only lasted a moment before Alice felt the floor underneath her feet again. She glanced around to find that she was in front of her room, standing at the door.

"Good night Alice." The Knave reached down and grabbed her hand, placing a kiss on the back of it.

"Ilosovic?" Alice's voice was small; she was surprised she had made a sound at all.

Stayne turned back around and raised an eyebrow; Alice had to crane her neck for her eyes to meet his.

"Why are you doing this?" She couldn't help herself; it was the only question that deserved an answer.

"Because I've only ever done what I've been told and I need someone to understand that." He smiled, but it wasn't the same; it was a sad smile of a broken man who was desperate for someone to hear him out.

Seeing the smile fade from his face made Alice's heart ache, was she really the only one to give him a chance? She nodded at Ilosovic and watched him climb back over the wall and slink back into the darkness.

Confused and extremely tired, the young Champion made her way through the door and sauntered over to the bed; she was about to lie down when she thought it might be a good idea to get out of her dress first. After placing her new dress over the back of the chair, Alice fell into bed and yanked the covers over her head.

"This is going to be harder than I thought."

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**(A/N)**

**I am not sure when I'll be able to update, but I promise it will be soon. REVIEW YOU CRAZY MONKEY!**


	8. Search parties don't have tea

**(A/N)**

**Not going to say to much other than enjoy and please review!**

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The next few days were a blur to Alice; her physical body may have been next to the Queen, nodding every few moments at everything she said, but her mind was else where. Her dinner date with Ilosovic was still fresh in her mind; replaying over and over again. Alice sighed in frustration,

_"How could someone who is supposed to be so evil, be so nice? It doesn't make any sense!" _Alice clenched her fist and took a calming breath.

At the given moment she was in the Queen's drawing room with six other chess pieces and Queen Mirana mapping out today's search route. It was Alice's first day out looking for the two criminals; part of her wanted to find them and get everything over and done with so that she could try a make a life here in Underland, but part of her wanted to know Ilosovic's plans. Her inner dilemma was causing her to be very confused; Alice hated being confused.

"Alice dear, whatever is the matter? You seem tense; do you understand today's agenda?" Mirana had a sincerely worried look on her face.

"Yes your Majesty, everything's fine. Maybe I just need some fresh air, being cramped up in the castle can be very boring at times." Alice tried to sound more cheery, but she suspected it wasn't working.

"I can imagine, well everything looks in order," Mirana scanned over the map one last time, "You'll be riding the Bandersnatch."

Alice couldn't help but let her face twist a little, "That Bander-what?"

"The Bandersnatch," The Queen corrected, "He will be you noble stead, your pet and most of all, your friend. The other Alice freed him from the Red Queen and he has missed her terribly." Mirana sighed gently, "He may look a bit rough around the edges, but he is a loyal creature."

"Thank you your Majesty." Alice turned on her heel and left the room, followed by the chess pieces.

They marched briskly to the stables, the sound of metal on metal filled the empty hallways; it was early and still dark outside, but they weren't expected back until nightfall. The stable doors flung open at their arrival and Alice stepped inside immediately coming face to face with the Bandersnatch and regretted it instantly.

Although the Bishop named Theodor had told her not to show any sign of weakness towards the beast, Alice could feel her knees shake at the sight of the large creature. His tongue snuck out and licked his face; Alice finding it harder to stand. She lent back and turned her head to speak to Theodor, but didn't take her eyes off of the Bandersnatch.

"There is no way I'm getting on that thing; it's got to have like a hundred rows of teeth!" She whispered loudly.

Theodor chuckled, "Why do you think we have horses?"

"Can I have a horse?" But he only chuckled again and moved towards his stead.

Staring at the Bandersnatch Alice decided one of two things could happen; she would walk right up to the beast hop on his back and go riding off in search of Iracebeth and Stayne or she would take one step forward and get ripped to pieces. Even though the second one seemed more likely Alice knew the Queen wouldn't put her in danger.

Alice shrugged, "If he was going to kill me he would have done it by now."

She looked down at herself, the armour she wore was heavy and so was the sword; Alice hesitated for a moment, but finally built up the courage to move. Grabbing handfuls of fur, she used her weight, with the help of the Bandersnatch, to hoist herself onto his back. Checking her sword wasn't going to stab the beast at any moment and give him a reason to throw her off, Alice tightened her grip and gave his side a light kick.

The Bandersnatch stood up and shook gently; testing if Alice was holding on tight enough, he gave a loud growl before breaking into a galloping like motion. They rode for a long time coming across nothing of great importance. Their first destination was Salazen Grum, Iracebeth's castle; it had been abandoned since her fall, but would make a great hiding place if she needed it.

No matter how hard Alice tried, she could not shake the feeling the beast she was riding would rip her apart with ease at any second. The Bandersnatch hadn't shown any signs of hostility yet and slowly the young champion became calmer and more relaxed. His movements were smooth and Alice found it easy to keep balance; she had only ever been on a horse once when she was seven and it had been led around by her father.

A sudden pain in her chest made Alice close her eyes; her father, what would he be doing now? How long had it been up there? A mere five days down here could mean that years have past, was he even still alive? Alice didn't want to think about that horrible possibility or any other that could distract her from her current mission. She still mused that this could all be a very vivid dream that could end at any second, but the longer these events were drawn out the less likely that option became.

Opening her eyes Alice found that her surroundings had changed to a darker, slightly more dead environment. The trees looked like black skeletons with twisted claws, the ground was dirty and lifeless and the sky was cloudy with signs of a storm. Alice only remembered seeing the beautiful side of Underland; the Queen's castle and the jungle before it, both stunning in their own way.

But this… this wasteland that lay before them took her breath away for a completely different reason. Its barren landscapes were as black as ash with no signs of life other than their own presence. Everything, even the rocks looked burnt, utterly destroyed and forgotten to the rest of Underland.

Alice looked further down the dirt road they were travelling to find another castle, a darker castle than Mirana's. The closer they got, the shorter the Bandersnatch's strides became and Alice could feel him hesitate as they crossed the drawbridge. She could only imagine the horrible things that happened behind these walls, she remembered Mirana telling her stories of the fortresses' ruthless leader and her devoted Knave.

No matter how bad the story got, Alice couldn't believe the Knave would do such things, not out of spite.

_"He must have had his reasons."_ Alice hoped, _"I don't remember the Queen saying anything about him personally hurting anyone without having the orders to do so."_

The horses trotting footsteps echoed in the castles empty halls; each soldier too afraid to demount in case they found exactly who they were looking for or someone else and needed a quick escape. Although Alice's heart was pounding out of her chest she kept her expression blank; she couldn't show weakness now.

They wandered through the castle for little over two hours and found nothing but tipped over furniture and broken glass. Apparently the place had been raided after the fall of the Red Queen and with no one to tell anyone otherwise, everything had basically gone to the dogs.

"There's nothing here but broken dreams and lost hope," Alice gave the Bandersnatch a soft tug and he came to a halt, "Has anyone checked the dungeons?"

"Empty." A knight replied.

"And what about the towers?" She ran her fingers through her white hair.

"Deserted, there's nobody here." Theodore came up alongside Alice and put his hand on her shoulder, "You've done well, one last sweep and then we'll move on."

Alice gave a strong nod, but something in the back of her mind told her that someone was here; she could feel their gaze burning holes in the back of her head. The chess pieces moved through the corridors one last time and left Alice to sit by the drawbridge, it was only then did she get a clear look at what was in the water. Bobbing just above the surface of the red tinted water were hundreds if not thousands of decapitated heads.

Her stomach lurched and Alice wanted to throw up, but she swallowed hard and winced at the taste of vomit that lingered at the back of her throat. She held her head high and waited for the soldiers to return to her side, it was only a few minutes before they were bounding towards Marmoreal again. Instead of taking the left that would direct them straight to the White Castle, they continued straight through the dense jungle-like environment.

Although it was now midday, the scorching sun could not penetrate the thick overgrowth. There was the odd cracking sound every so often of a horse stepping on a branch and snapped it, but other than that the jungle seemed quiet; only birds and insects chattered quietly to each other. The path they were following had long since been consumed by plants and tree roots, but they still continued to push through the plantation without hesitation.

The group marched in a straight line; one next to the other, scanning the jungle for any unwanted visitors. Alice slowly felt a cramp building in her calves and a pain in her inner thighs; she was definitely not used to riding of any form. Pulling back on the Bandersnatch's fur, Alice waited for him to stop before sliding off of him and sitting against a tree.

"Alice, are you okay?" Theodor rode up to her, looking down at her.

"I'm fine, my legs just need a rest, you guys go on." Alice began taking off her leg armour to massage the cramping muscles.

"Are you quite sure? We can wait a while if you need." Theodor insisted.

"I've got the beast," Alice nodded to the Bandersnatch, "if anyone wants to start on me they can go through him." She gave the chess piece a reassuring smile then stood.

Alice wasn't used to giving orders, well at least not to a small troop of soldiers who were willing to die for her if the situation called for it. So it was no wonder why she couldn't quite find her voice when she needed it most, she cleared her throat and quickly tried to unmuddle the sentence in her head.

"I request that you continue with the search of Iracebeth and Ilosovic, I will remain here and catch up later." Alice knew her voice was quieter then she wanted it to be, but it did sound confident.

Theodor took it upon himself to lead the troops off further into the jungle. Alice sighed in relief, not only were her legs sore, but she needed to know whose eyes had followed her from Salazen Grum. The sneaking suspicion of who it was grew stronger as the wind picked up and a familiar smell filled her nostrils and intoxicated her body.

Her head spun around to try and see if she could catch a glimpse of the man she now knew was hiding from her. In the distance she could hear the chess soldiers breaking into a gallop, possibly having found something, but Alice knew it wasn't the Knave. Making eye contact with the Bandersnatch, Alice put her finger to her lips and shushed him; he gave a small snarl, but seemed to oblige nonetheless. Alice stood, brushed off her jeans proceeded to remove the rest of her armour, but kept the sword strapped to her hip.

"I know you're here," Alice pause for dramatics, "Ilosovic." She almost hissed his name.

The Bandersnatch let out a low growl and shifted uneasily, but stopped the second his friend raised her hand; Alice had once owned a German shepherd and had learnt that showing dominance was key to a good pet. She inwardly congratulated herself for how well she had handled the beast, but it was short lived when a hand fell on her shoulder. Alice flinched, but didn't change her stance; she calmed herself before she turned around and was met by a lust filled eye.

"Hello Alice," His voice floated through the air and encircled her head.

The young girl had to crane her neck to met Stayne's gaze; with him being over seven foot tall and Alice being well under six, it made eye contact slightly difficult. Ilosovic kept silent after his short hello and Alice found herself speechless by his overwhelming presence. For a long time they stood staring into each other without a word spoken between them until the Knave's hand moved and brushed Alice's cheek.

"Is this your little search party?" He questioned in a whispered voice as he signal in the general direction of the chess pieces.

"Queen's orders," Alice leaned into his hand, "You know I could bring you in if I wanted to."

"Oh, is that so and how would you do that?" Stayne chuckle lightly at Alice's playful threat.

"Maybe you'd come willingly if I asked really nicely." Alice looked up at Ilosovic smiling.

He smiled back and brought his hand to the back of Alice's head while resting the other on her hips; his fingers wrapped around the sword that resided there. As he leaned in and kissed her, Stayne slowed pulled at the sword only to have a hand stop him.

"Don't play games with me Ilosovic, if you wanted the sword you just had to ask, there's no need to be sneaky." Alice spoke but didn't pull away.

The Knave was in shock, not only had she stolen a kiss, but she hadn't been distracted by it. He let go of the sword and stepped back with his eyebrow raised; what kind of Champion was she, a lot better one then the other Alice. At least this one was aware of her surroundings unlike her ancestor who seemed to fluke everything. Ilosovic watched intensively as Alice unsheathed the sword and handed it to him; maybe she wasn't that bright after all.

"Silly girl," Stayne grabbed the blade and examined it, "How do you know I wasn't going to hurt you?" Not looking away from the sword, he waited for a reply.

"You said you never would and I trust you." Alice spoke as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.

Stayne slowly shifted his gaze to the girl in front of him; her white hair was a mess from the wind and her blue eyes sparkled at the attention he was paying her. No one had ever trusted him, no one except the Red Queen and she was an idiot who believed everyone loved or at least feared her because the ones who didn't were killed.

"Ilosovic, are you okay?" Alice's voice brought him out of his trance.

"This blade is useless," He said quickly, "It won't do a Champion like yourself." His voice carried a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh and I bet you could make a better one." Alice teased, snatching back the sword and putting it in its sheath.

The Knave scoffed, "Of course I could, I can do a lot of things better then most people." With this he came very close to Alice's face, millimetres from her lips.

Alice fought with herself, trying not to close the distance between them; instead she thought it was her turn to be a smartass. "Maybe one day you could show me some of those things."

When the gap was closed, Alice could feel Ilosovic smirking and his hands in her hair; he seemed to like the feel of it through his gloved fingers. The kiss was long and sensual; pressing all the right buttons and ticking all the right boxes.

"I have to go," Ilosovic finally whispered, "But you'll see me again soon."

Alice could feel him pull away, but she didn't want to open her eye because she knew that when she did he'd be gone; so it came no surprise to her that when she open her eyes Stayne wasn't there. She sighed heavily and when about putting her armour back on as quickly as possible when she heard the chess pieces coming back. Alice jumped back on the Bandersnatch and leaned down to his ear.

"Don't be telling anyone about this, okay?" Although she knew the Bandersnatch couldn't talk, Alice still felt the warning was necessary.

Straightening up, Alice could see Theodor in front of the group with someone trailing by foot behind him and as they got closer she realised this person had to be the ugliest person she had even seen. The thing that she suspected to be a woman had an unusually large head with red hair and a very expensive and dirty looking dress. Theodor rode up to Alice with the person trailing behind him, her hands were bound and tied to his saddle; she had a horrid scowl on her face that only got worse at the sight of Alice.

"Off with your head!" The woman screamed.

Choosing to ignore the comment, Alice addressed Theodor, "Is this Iracebeth?"

"I'm afraid so ma'am, and let me tell you she hasn't stopped screaming since we found her." Theodor winced as the ex-Queen yelled the same command.

The Bandersnatch growled at Iracebeth and she stopped screaming instantly, cowering behind the Bishop's horse she continued to whisper the same command over and over again. Alice watched the once powerful Queen reduced to a quivering mess; not having seen Iracebeth before now, she didn't know how large the change was, but she knew she pitied this person before her.

"Let's take her back to the Queen, once there I want her locked in the dungeons," Alice ordered, "To Marmoreal!" She gave the Bandersnatch a strong tug and pulled him in the direction of the White castle and they galloped off.

The wind yet again messed her hair as Alice rode and she thought to herself,

__

_"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Iracebeth has gone mad, but why is what I want to know."__

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**(A/N)**

**CLIFFHANGER! Don't you just hate them? Me too, so I'll update as soon as I can. Review Please!**


	9. Tell me exactly

**(A/N)**

**I know this is a bit shorter than the last chapter, but I hope you enjoy it.**

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Alice arrived at Marmoreal a lot faster than her fellow soldiers, having told them to walk Iracebeth back to the castle instead of dragging her like they wanted to. Instead of putting the Bandersnatch back in the stables, she rode him right up to the main dining hall where she suspected the Queen was; getting a few strange looks along the way. The doors were flung open as she approached them and out of all the looks Alice had received on the way to the dining hall, nothing could compare to Mirana's stare of pure shock.

"Your majesty we have found and captured Iracebeth." Alice demounted the Bandersnatch. "The men are on their way back with her now and I've requested them to hold her in the dungeons until you are ready to give your orders."

Alice stooped into a low bow to hide her smile, "And with all due respect ma'am, I'd like to get something to eat then go to bed."

Tarrant snicked on her left; they hadn't spoken much since he had made her dress, simple 'hellos' were exchanged in the corridors, but both had been kept busy with their work. Alice raised her head and wiped the smile from her face; her heart was still beating fast from her ride home and her encounter with Ilosovic Stayne.

"As you wish Alice, but before you go I'd like to invite you to tonight's party." Mirana kept a calm and gentle tone.

"What's the occasion?" Alice realised how tired she really was when she had to suppress a yawn after asking her question.

"Tonight is Thackery's birthday; it won't be a large occasion, only his closest friends, but you are free to bring someone if you wish." Mirana waved her hand around as she spoke which the young girl in front of her found quite amusing.

"Thank you your majesty." Alice nodded her head and left, whistling for the Bandersnatch to follow.

The beast slumped behind her as she made her way back to her quarters. Alice's smile crept back onto her face as she stalked the halls thinking about the day's events so far:

"_He said I'd see him soon, but how soon? Maybe I'll see him tonight; no that would be too soon and too dangerous." _Alice sighed as she entered her room followed by the Bandersnatch, _"I can't wait for all of this to be over."_

After removing her armour and having a quick bath, Alice settled down for some down time; she had only just put her head on the pillow when there was a knock at the door. She shot a look at the Bandersnatch only to find that he too was eyeing the door, trying to sniff out who it was standing behind it. There was another knock followed by a voice.

"Alice, are you in there? I've brought you some tea." The Hatter's lisped voice travelled through the room and brought a smile to Alice's face.

She dove for the door and swung it open; Tarrant was so surprised that he almost dropped the tea tray he was carrying, but due to his many experiences with Thackery he had learned to act quickly.

"Tarrant, please come in," Alice stood aside and let him in, "how have you been?"

He walked across the room, placed the tray on the dressing table and started making tea.

"I've been magnificent, with Thackery's birthday tonight and the party for your success today, I've been quite busy." Tarrant's eyes shone with pride for both himself and Alice.

"My success? But I haven't done anything that even remotely deserves a party." Alice grabbed the cup of tea that was offered to her and she walked over to the bed, petting the Bandersnatch on the way.

"You found _the Bloody Big 'Ead!_" Tarrant's voice changed to one of anger and became laced with a strong, Scottish sounding accent.

Alice turned to see that his eye had grown dark and his head had lower with a scowl across his face; everything that seemed to be the complete opposite of the man she'd known up until now.

"Hatter?" Alice spoke quietly in fear of being on the receiving end of Tarrant's anger.

He looked up quickly, returning to the sweet and innocent person he was moments ago, "I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that," Alice put he cup down and walked up to the Hatter, placing her hand on his forehead.

Her hands checked his head and cheeks for a temperature, but found nothing. Looking deep into his eyes for anything that would give away what had just happened, Alice only found the same worry in her eyes staring back.

"Alice, have I gone mad?" Tarrant asked the same question he had asked the other Alice three years ago.

She looked at him for a while, wondering if it was a trick question; deciding that he was serious, Alice gave him the best answer she had.

"Of course you are, but don't worry so am I," Alice smiled, "I think you have to be at least a little crazy to live here."

Tarrant giggled and nodded his agreement. Alice was glad that her friend was okay; besides from discussing business with the Queen and her random meetings with Stayne, Tarrant seemed to be the only person willing to speak to her. The Hatter turned around and poured himself another cup of tea while Alice made her way back to the bed.

Running her fingers through her white hair, Alice decided that she needed to hear what Tarrant had to say about a certain Knave. She waited for him to finish making his tea and come to join her on the bed; he didn't hesitate as badly as he had done the first time. Leaving their saucers behind, the couple sat holding their cups in silence for as long as Alice could keep it.

"Tarrant?"

The Hatter looked up from his cup and raised his orange eyebrows in a questioning look.

"When you were captured by Iracebeth," She paused to see his eyes widen a bit, "how were you treated? I mean I've heard stories about her, but I haven't heard much about Ilosovic Stayne."

Mirana had told Alice that Tarrant had been captured, but he might not want to talk about his time in Salazen Grum, which was fair enough, but she still wanted to know. The young female tilted her head slightly and waited politely for her friend to answer her; whether he said he didn't want to talk about it or he told her a very detailed recount of his imprisonment. Tarrant's eyes flashed yellow before he calmed himself and this frightened Alice, she just hoed the door wasn't to far away if she needed to escape his wrath.

"I let myself get captured for her, for my Alice; I knew she was our Champion and I was right, she saved us from the Jabberwocky and the Red Queen. My stay at Salazen Grum was not a comfortable one; I was forced to make hats for that disgusting woman." Tarrant spat his last words before taking a sip of tea to calm his nerves.

"What about Stayne?" Alice didn't want to push the matter, but she didn't want an irrelevant rant either.

"On the day I was captured I was led down into the dungeons were I was shackled to the floor." The Hatter cringed slightly, but continued. "It smelt of dry blood and hay. I remember looking up when the door to my cell was opened and that's when he ordered the guard to leave and I was sure that I was dead. He closed the door behind him and explained that the Queen hadn't ordered him to kill me, just see if I knew where Alice was and of course I lied."

"So he didn't hurt you?" Alice had let her tea go cold, she had been so intrigued with the story she had completely forgotten about it.

Tarrant shook his head, got up and brought the tea tray over, resting it on the bed.

"Ilosovic Stayne follows his instructions exactly and always has; even when my village was attacked he hurt no one, his only goal was to retrieve the Vorpal sword." The Hatter was remaining amazingly calm considering the subject. "But while I was down in that dungeon he only ever yelled at me and the only thing he hit was the wall, at one point I thought he had broken his hand, but he never complained about it so I took no notice."

Alice listen intently as Tarrant finished his story and just as she suspected the Knave wasn't necessarily a bad person, just one who did what he had to survive. Tarrant even complemented Ilosovic for his bravery at one point in the conversation; he even explained that he didn't hate Stayne, just the fact that he chose to follow Iracebeth.

"He could have left her, I'm sure the White Queen would have been more than happy to protect him against the Big Head's army, but he never did." Hightop sighed as he finished off his third cup of tea.

"What if he thought there was no other way, what if he didn't think anyone would trust him?" Alice questioned.

"I'm mad, no one _should_ trust me, but some do with their lives and that's a huge responsibility. Why all the sudden interest anyways?" Tarrant smiled.

"Oh… umm… well… A champion should know her enemy, not that I really see him as one anymore." Alice admitted. "In fact he doesn't seem that bad at all."

"You should trust your instincts, even if no one else does." Tarrant lent forward and hugged Alice before jumping off the bed and grabbing the tea tray. "Well I have to be off, the Tweedles want party hats for tonight, and did you want anything?"

"How about a really small top hat, one that matches that beautiful dress you made me." Alice smiled.

"You're going to wear my dress, well not _my_ dress, but the one I made for you and haven't seen you wear yet?" Tarrant smiled back, his face resembled the Cheshire cats for a moment.

"Yes Tarrant, I was going to wear the dress you made for me, but haven't seen me wear yet." Alice hoped off the bed and walked over to her friend, "Do you know what time the party is?"

"It will commence at exactly around six or so, possibly later or maybe earlier." The Hatter replied.

"And if I was to bring someone, no matter who it was, they would be allowed in the castle without being asked to leave or anything of that nature?" Alice opened the door and let the Hatter out.

"I suppose so, who did you think of asking?" Tarrant asked.

"Oh, just a friend of mine that's all." Alice turned around and began walking back into her room as the door slowly closed. "Just a friend."

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**(A/N)**

**Ooooohh, okay like I said before, I know this chapter was short and possibly irrelavent, but it was fun and I thought Alice need to talk with the Hatter again. As usual please review!**


	10. Things that start with a bang

**(A/N)**

**I am sorry about the wait and I hope that it was worth it, as usual; please reveiw, it just makes me write faster. ENJOY!**

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Alice couldn't hold in her excitement as she wrote a rather extensive letter to Ilosovic explaining what Tarrant had told her and about the party that evening. Even though she had gotten better at using a quill, there were still large splotches of ink on the page, or smears from when she had accidently brushed the paper. Sitting back to admire her handy work or lack there of, one question seemed to pop up out of nowhere: How was Alice going to deliver the letter when it's the Knave who finds her?

With a long and exhausted sigh, Alice leant back against the chair, ran her fingers through her hair and brought a piece forward to study it. Before she had come to Underland, Alice had wanted to colour her hair, but with her white hair she seemed to fit in perfectly with the other residence of the White castle. Unfortunately that was the problem; Alice hated fitting in and going by the rules, she loved standing out and breaking rules, but only for what she believed in not something silly. She had wanted blue streaks put in her hair, possibly accompanied by pink, but that hadn't been decided yet and probably never will be; Alice loathed the fact that she was in Underland.

After everything she had worked for; school, jobs, an apprenticeship and even the hard feelings she had for half of her family had been worked out. But for what, to sit in an oversized castle, looking for criminals and going to birthday parties with animals? None of the above were even on the list of lifetime goals Alice had or on the one she didn't have; they just didn't exist. At least they never used to, but deep down inside Alice hoped that this was real and that the friends she had made were for life, but that small nagging part of her brain still clung to the hope that at any moment she would wake up in a hospital surrounded by her real friends and family. They would probably tell her that she was hit by a car on her way home from work and had been hallucinating even since.

'Why me?' may be a line from the movies, but it was all she could think, why did I have to be chosen? And if it was so easy for her (a hairdresser with no training in battle of any kind), why couldn't Mirana just send out some troops to look for these so called criminals? The troops seemed to do just fine by themselves finding Iracebeth, so why can't she? Because she's afraid, that's why. She's afraid that if it all doesn't work out that she'll hold the blame and that's why they need Alice; because she's the scapegoat, the fall guy, the one that the fingers will be pointing at if things suddenly take a turn for the worst.

Alice sighed again and looked at the Bandersnatch, the cogs in her head began turning until they made a little light globe blink into life. There it was; the answer to her original question, the Bandersnatch was how that letter was going to be delivered. Quickly stuffing the letter into an envelope, Alice almost dove at the sleeping beast before she decided that taking a less aggressive approach would probably end less violently. Alice gently poked the Bandersnatch's shoulder until his eyes blinked open; she stepped back as he released a toothy yawn.

"Do you still have the scent of Ilosovic Stayne?" She asked, not really expecting anything in return.

The large creature nodded slowly and Alice's stomach did a small back flip.

"Could you please take this to him and nothing else; no biting, scratching, growling, hissing, nudging or anything else that could make me hurt you, okay?" And although it was a lot to process, the Bandersnatch nodded again before taking the piece of paper in his mouth and leaving the castle grounds.

The clock behind her chimed three o'clock and caused Alice to almost just out of her skin; she mentally cursed the clock for having such a loud bell. After the abrupt interruption the room quickly filled with an over powering silence that seemed to linger for quite some time. Somewhere, behind all of Alice's current thoughts, a little voice was telling her that the phone will ring at any moment and she will be forced to listen to her friend, Kat, explain how her and her boyfriend had had another fight. Unfortunately this was impossible and Alice knew it, not only did Underland not have phones from what she understood of her existing problem, years if not decades may have passed while she has been away.

Salty tears stung Alice's eyes and although she tried desperately to blink them back, but they began to flow regardless. A few strands of white hair fell in front of Alice's face as she bowed her head to wipe away the tears; she hated crying. Alice couldn't cry like the movie stars, she became all blotchy and her nose got blocked; it wasn't a pretty sight so she tried not to do it in public. Slowly but surely she walked into the bathroom to wash her face to try and look presentable.

It seemed to take an eternity for the Bandersnatch to return and Alice nearly dove at him when he did, only to stop herself; still not to sure about the animals habits or how aggressive it could be.

"So, what did he say?" Alice didn't hide her excitement.

The Bandersnatch shrugged, turned around and laid himself down. Alice's mouth dropped and her eyes bulged from her head, threatening to fall out completely.

"What do you mean you don't know? Didn't he say anything? Did you even wait for an answer? I'm gonna kill yo…" Alice paused mid-rant and took a closer look at the Bandersnatch's tail which had been cheekily flicking back and forth the whole time.

Bracing herself for the worst reaction to what she was about to do, Alice pounced on the creatures tail, grabbed the object that was on the end of it and leapt backward. When her breathing slowed and her heartbeat resumed its normal pace, Alice studied the thing she had just risked death to get and for a moment she couldn't understand what it was. After twisting and turning it Alice made the connection; it was a corsage and beautiful one at that. It was a magnificent, wild looking rose with black tinges to its deep red colouring; the band was made of black lace and tied into a bow.

"It's beautiful." Alice was gobsmacked as she made her way around the Bandersnatch to face him, "Does this mean he'll come?"

She waited patiently for the beast to answer and after a couple of agonising minutes he nodded followed by a flinch as Alice gave a girly squeal. She bounced all the way to the bathroom where stood in front of the mirror and did a little dance of joy. She carefully placed the corsage on the bench and looked in every cupboard until she found what she was looking for; makeup. Although it wasn't the makeup she was used to, Alice could still work out what was what, even with no mascara.

Alice set everything up on the bench in the order it would be used, old habits die hard, and stood with her hands on her hips analysing each object and its place. Deciding that all was well, Alice begun to undress when the clock chimed five causing her to jump and slip. She didn't fall far, but the loud crack that came from her wrist and the scream that escaped her lips told Alice that she had just broken something.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Alice held back another scream as she stood up; luckily she was still largely dressed despite a few buttons on her shirt. Alice focused on her breathing while clutching her wrist to her chest; she made her way back into the main room to find the Bandersnatch looking very concerned. He walked forward and gently nudged Alice's legs, she smiled through the unwanted tears. Careful not to bump her wrist, Alice climbed onto the Bandersnatch's back, holding on with her right hand to keep balance.

"Does Tarrant Hightop have a room here in the castle?" She asked.

The beast nodded and left the room at a much slower pace; Alice noticed that when the Bandersnatch walked his shoulders stayed quite level, making it easier for her to stay on without falling. They went through three corridors and only down one flight of stairs before they reached a door. Cautiously, the Bandersnatch raised its paw and lightly scratched on the wooden door; moments later it opened to a confused Hatter.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" Tarrant asked, "I mean, not that I don't enjoy your company, but I thought you would be getting ready for the party."

"I was, but then I sort of hurt myself." Alice went to move her hand only to give a small cry.

"Oh dear," Tarrant ran to her side and helped her off of the Bandersnatch, "Is it broken?"

"I think so." Alice felt slightly embarrassed at how she had broken her wrist and would probably get someone to remove the clock from her room as soon as possible.

The Hatter escorted Alice inside and sat her on a chair next to his sewing desk and raced of into what Alice suspected to be his bathroom. A few minutes later he emerged from the room and came back to her side with an odd looking bottle and as he got closer Alice realised it was in the shape of a bone. Tarrant twisted the top of the bone which came off like a lid and he squirted a small amount of cream into his hand.

"Give me your wrist." Tarrant demanded and Alice complied.

She bit her lip again as the Hatter began to rub the cream into her wrist, the pain was almost unbearable and a few times Alice let out quiet screams of agony. Even with Alice's little complaints, Tarrant continued to work and once he was finished he stood up and wiped his hands on his pants.

"There you go, that will stop it swelling and it should speed up the whole fixing thing." He waved his hands at Alice's wrist as he spoke, "It will still be sore, but it will be usable just try not to knock it."

Tarrant smiled wildly at the young girl and even though she felt thankful she also felt extremely embarrassed.

"Some champion I am." Alice frowned, "I can't even get dressed without breaking something."

The Hatter could see that Alice was upset, but it still didn't stop the fact that what she had said was funny and he tried to suppress the giggle that was about to erupt. Alice looked up to see Tarrant holding back his mad laughter.

"What are you lookin' at?" She questioned, but that was the last straw.

Tarrant could no longer hold back and he began laughing uncontrollably; and even though she felt extremely embarrassed, Alice couldn't help but laugh as well. The pair ended up rolling on the floor in silent hysteria for at least half an hour before the young female realised that she need to get ready for Thackery's birthday party.

Once she caught her breath, Alice helped the Mad Hatter to his feet and brushed off her jeans before bidding him goodbye.

"Alice, before you go," Tarrant stopped at the door, looking up at Alice as she mounted to Bandersnatch, "May I ask who this so called 'friend' is? I mean, I didn't think you had actually made any friends yet."

"You will find out tonight," Alice said, "And I hope you'll be on you best behaviour."

With this, both Alice and the Bandersnatch rode back to her rooms so that she could get ready for the nights entertainment. Although, after her little accident, the white haired girl had only a very limited time to get ready and the only thing that seemed to hold her back was doing up her dress. Beautiful though it was, it was quite the challenge to do up the laces. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Alice jumped, although not as badly as she had done when the clock chimed.

Using her broken hand to keep her dress from falling down Alice open the door with the other only to be carefully pushed out the way and the door slammed shut. A tall figure had pushed his way into the room and was now breathing heavily.

"Ilosovic, what's wrong?" Alice asked, still trying to do up her dress.

"This place is swarming with guards; it was quite difficult to get here without being spotted. I don't even know why I agreed to this, I must be crazy." Stayne's eye darted around the room, almost as if he expected a guard to jump out of nowhere and capture him.

"I couldn't be more interested, but a little help would be nice." Alice turned around and held out the ribbons to her dress.

Cautiously taking them in hand, Ilosovic began to tighten them and tie them into a neat bow. After he finished, the Knave's hand glided up to her shoulders to gently turn Alice around and for a moment he remained gobsmacked. His eye looked up and down at the young woman in front of him and whatever his previous statement was now melted away as a new desire bubbled to the surface.

Ilosovic felt his cheeks grow hotter, his pants tighten slightly and his stomach knot with anticipation. All of these were cleverly covered by his expressionless face, unfortunately his eye shone with excitement and it didn't go unnoticed.

"So, my plan was to wait til just after six before we made our move, trying to get to the hall before then could be hard, sound like a plan?" Alice questioned, trying to get the Knave's attention.

"You look beautiful tonight." This was all that Stayne could answer with.

"Thank you, but did you hear what I said?" Alice insisted.

"Something about something being hard. Do we have to do this? I quite like it here in your room, it's so… secluded." The Knave's voice was low and seductive when he spoke, sending shivers down the young girls spine.

"Yeah, I bet you like it being so secluded," Alice tried hard not to roll her eyes, but the things that Ilosovic was saying seemed to ignite a small flame in the pit of her stomach and even Alice questioned herself about having to go to the party or just staying here with tall, dark and handsome.

During their moment of silence, Alice took in Ilosovic's appearance. He stood slightly taller than usual instead of slouching to meet her gaze; the tuxedo he was wearing was beautifully tailored and in his front pocket sat a rose like the one on Alice's corsage. They both stood there staring at each other completely speechless; time must have been on their side because it seemed to stop the second Stayne stooped down and caught Alice's lips with his own. Slowly they parted and Alice watched as the Knave's expression dropped.

"This isn't going to work, it's impossible." His gaze dropped but Alice extended her arm and forced him to face her.

"Only if you believe it is." The young woman's smile was contagious, "Now, if I'm correct the Queen will announce the party to be officially started at five minutes past six and we will enter soon after that. Do you remember the plan?"

"I stand there and look handsome while you speak because anything I say could be taken the wrong way." Ilosovic stated with a robotic sound to his voice, "And by the way, you really need to work on your penmanship, I could barely decipher your letter when I first received it."

Alice's cheek became red and she felt slightly light headed, but one quick kiss from the man in front of her had her soaring on cloud nine; ready for anything. Their time was upon them and with one last breath and wish of good luck, the pair made their way to the main dining hall where the party was being held.

"I'm still not sure that this is going to work." They stopped out the front of the doors leading into the hall.

"Ilosovic Stayne, I am risking a lot here to get your voice heard, a little confidence what be greatly appreciated." Alice's gaze was locked in front of her, but she saw him nod in the corner of her eye, "It's now or never."

With this the doors were swung open and a heavy silence filled the room, the only sounds that followed was a gasp from Mirana and Thackery dropping him spoon.

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**(A/N)**

**CLIFFHANGER! Thank to everyone who has reveiwed or favourited this story, it means a lot and I do wish for it to continue. The next chapter will be up really soon... Well as soon as I can, things on this end are starting to build up and things such as school work do in fact come first. But I'll try. Thank You.**


	11. Birthdays and Bedsheets

**(A/N)**

**This is a slightly shory chapter, but is has some much anticipated naughtyness at the end with a cute little twist. Please enjoy and as always... SEND ME A COMMENT! Thank you.**

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The court room was eerily silent and nobody moved for a long time until Alice slowly started to edge forward, still slightly afraid of things turning for the worst. Ilosovic Stayne, despite his calm expression, was trembling, sweating and to put it bluntly; freaking out. Luckily or possibly unluckily for him the female next to him took his hand and was leading him closer to the party. Finally, after passing all the eyes that seemed glued to them and taking what felt like an eternity; they arrived at the head of the table and stood next to the queen, both stooping into a low bow.

"Your Majesty, I'd like to introduce Ilosovic Stayne, my guest for this evening." Alice's voice was shaky, her hands were sweaty and she shook a little as she stood facing Mirana.

"I… Alice… Why?" The Queen tried to compose herself, but it wasn't working; the shock had set in and was sending her thoughts into a tizz.

After clearing his throat and drawing more attention to himself, the Knave spoke. "I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to be here this evening." He turned to Thackery who flinched, "Happy Birthday Thackery."

Stayne bowed again and produced a utensil from his jacket pocket and handed it to the March Hare, Ilosovic gave a weak smile. The excitement on the hare's face made the room shine and a bit of the tension leaked from the hall.

"A spork! How did you know? You devil you, I forgive ya, you wee little mome rath."

Thackery dove across the table and for a split second Ilosovic thought he was being attacked, but the March Hare latched his arms around his neck in a hug. Tarrant, who had remained quiet the entire time, had been thinking about recent events and things seemed to fall into place. His conversation with Alice, all her questions and now having the long wanted criminal standing before him at his own accord. Making his decision, the Hatter stood and held out his hand.

"I too forgive you, Ilosovic Stayne and I hope you can forgive me." Tarrant's head hung a bit as he remembered almost killing the Knave during the Frabjous Day battle, even though the Knave had spared his life in the dungeons.

With Thackery still sitting on his shoulders playing with his new present, Ilosovic took the Hatter's hand and shook it. The deal was done and Alice knew that if anyone tried to harm the Knave, they'd have to go through her and Tarrant first. The Queen could see that she couldn't argue with either ones decision; the Hatter wouldn't have wasted a second in disposing of the Knave unless he thought it was the right thing to do. Trusting his judgement and that of Alice's, Mirana stood and gently tapped her glass with a butter knife, drawing the attention away from the new comer.

"As the Queen and ruler of Underland, I, Mirana, call off the search for Ilosovic Stayne and drop all accusations against him." The court room cheered and Mirana leaned in closer to Alice and Stayne, "But I will still be keeping a close eye on you."

"I wouldn't expect you to do any less." The Knave gave a low bow and smiled, an honest and truly grateful smile; someone had finally heard him out, but he still felt uneasy in the presents of people who used to want to kill him.

The night's party was a success; there were many toasts and even more food fights; everything was going splendidly until one of the Queens soldiers came to speak to her. Alice recognised him as one of the Rooks who had accompanied her on the search for Iracebeth and Ilosovic.

"Your Majesty, Iracebeth has found out about Ilosovic Stayne is requesting his presents immediately." He bowed low and waited for his next order.

"The decision is not up to me, but up to Ilosovic." Mirana turned to the Knave, "Do you wish to see Iracebeth? I know you two were close." The Queen had worded her sentence carefully to see his reaction.

Stayne looked horrified with an underlying sigh of anger, "I was never close to that piece of filth, I did what I had to do to survive and if I had the choice and knew what I know now, I would never do it again." Ilosovic breathed to calm himself, "So, my answer is no, I do not wish to see Iracebeth unless it is at her funeral."

Although what the Knave had said was rude and slightly unnecessary, Mirana smiled politely and told the Rook to repeat the message to her sister and not to expect any visitors. The Rook stood up from his bow and nodded his understanding before leaving to deliver the unwanted news. From that moment on Alice noticed a change in the Knave's attitude; if I was uncomfortable before, he was furious now. Alice didn't want to make matters worse, but above all she didn't want someone saying the wrong thing and being on the receiving end of Ilosovic's anger.

"Pardon me your Majesty, but could Ilosovic and I be excused?" Alice stood up and brushed the bread crumbs from her lap.

"Of course Alice, but may I inquire as to why you are leaving so early?" Mirana still seemed to be very watchful of Stayne and the people who were and now are close to him.

"It's been a long night for both of us and I don't want to ruin a wonderful evening by having someone bring up something inappropriate." Alice had mostly told the truth, what she failed to mention was that after seeing the Knave in such a beautiful suit she wanted to know if the glances he had been giving her all night would lead to it being on the floor.

"I see, well goodnight Alice. I expect to see you before lunch for some battle training; I hear your sword work is a bit questionable." The Queen smiled and nodded her head as the okay to leave.

Alice returned the smile and tapped the Knave on the shoulder and told him that they were leaving. There were and few goodnights and nods as the exited the dining hall. The pair were two corridors away from Alice's room when the young female found herself up against the wall with a very tall shadow over her.

Ilosovic bent down and licked Alice's neck and whispered gently, "I must thank you Alice, you've done what no one else would do for me and now I feel I must repay the favour."

Alice's knees went wobbly as the Knave's hot breath caressed her skin, she reached up and looped her arms around his neck and let his lips work their way up to hers. Ilosovic pushed himself into the smaller frame beneath him and allowed her to explore the inside of his mouth with her tongue. Their passion grew as they fumbled back to Alice's private quarters and once they were through the door, both stripped each other of the restricting materials covering their bodies. Suddenly, Alice found that her feet were no longer touching the floor, instead her legs were wrapped around a narrow waist and as they collapsed onto the bed; she could feel Ilosovic's erection pushing into her stomach.

She let the Knave move her to where he wanted her as she was placed on her back with him kneeling between her legs. Alice felt her hips being lifted and a soft, wet tongue flick out and caress her nub; as her hips were lowered again the Knave inserted and long finger and started pumping it in and out. Alice ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to remain aware of her surroundings; she inhaled deeply as the finger was joined by another and moved twice as fast. Ilosovic was greeted by questioning eyes when he suddenly stopped, but just smiled as he bent down and places soft kisses down Alice's collarbone.

There was a pause where Alice could have sworn that time had left as the moment seemed to linger, but that all changed the second the Knave lined himself up and pushed his erection into her. Time came crashing down at double speed to make up for minutes lost, pleasure and pain became twisted twins as they smashed together; Ilosovic's long limbs were a good indication of what was being thrust into her. Alice arched her back as Stayne lent down and began to place kisses on her breasts and stomach; she was reaching her climax when he stopped.

"What? What's wro…?" Alice didn't get to finish her sentence as Ilosovic thrust into her hitting the spot that made her eyes roll back and her body jolt.

Opening her eyes to meet Stayne's, Alice found a face full of lust and pleasure that sent her flying through her orgasm and within moment she was ready for her second. After recovering from her high, Alice used a lot of her strength to overthrow the Knave and put him onto his back. She brought the pace down and slowly rolled her hips and placed her hands on Ilosovic's stomach as he put his on her hips to guide them. Both of them were sweating, moaning and breathing heavily.

Stayne looked up at Alice and saw her body glistening and her breasts bouncing with her movements, her head fell back as she climaxed for a second time. This was all Ilosovic needed to finish himself of; one look at her face and his seed was released with a gravely moan. Alice's body went limp and she collapsed onto the Knave who smiled softly and gently rolled her over to lie next to him. She cuddled into Ilosovic's side as he threw the blanket over them, the cold sheets cooling their heated bodies. Through exhaustion, the couple found themselves running through their own dreamscapes, completely oblivious to the man in a top hat standing outside the door.

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**(A/N)**

**So what do you think? Have we got a twist or what? I thought that was quite a neat little ending to have you all raging at the screen... The next chapter will be up as soon as possible, sooner if you review...**


	12. Riddles and Mystery

**(A/N)**

**I know it's been a bit of a wait and you must hate me for the cliffhanger I left on the last chapter, but it's here now so no one has to loose their heads... It's a little bit short, but that's because I think the next one will be kind of long.**

**Enjoy and please review!**

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Maybe he should have waited until morning or a least left straight away when he realised that Alice was busy, but he couldn't. Poor Tarrant Hightop found that someone had snuck glue under his shoes and he was unable to move from right outside Miss Kingsly's living quarters. To make matter worse he could feel his sanity slipping and it was the first time since the knew Alice arrived; how rude of him.

But through all the insanity that swirled in Tarrant Hightop's mind; the many voices, the strange sounds and images, through all the madness he was sure he had heard something that he could not un-hear. Was what he heard even possible? Certainly not, for it was improper and unlikely and just not… right. But he was sure and he wasn't sure of a lot of things.

A little while after Alice had left the main dining hall with Ilosovic Stayne, the Hatter remembered that he had made the miniature top hat she had requested and it was sitting under his chair and not on her head. Feeling a bit silly about forgetting, Tarrant excused himself from dinner and slowly made his way towards Alice's room. He had taken his time because he had noticed a shooting star and stopped to admire the night sky's beauty with the sun setting far in the distance. After doing this the Hatter started back on his way the give Underland's champion her hat, but once he got to her quarters there were voices behind the door.

For a moment he thought that the voices were inside his head and he tried to shut them out, but when they continued he decided to try and make out what they were saying only to hear moans and grunts.

"How odd." He had thought to himself.

As he went to knock on the white wooden door a sound came clearly through barrier that sent shivers down his spine. It may have been muffled by the heavy wood, but to him it was as clear as daylight. Tarrant heard Alice begging and moaning Ilosovic Stayne's name over and over and each time she said those words it hit him like a tonne of bricks.

There was a darkness growing in the pit of Tarrant Hightop's stomach, a darkness that had only reared it head, but never broken its chains. The monster inside the mad Hatter began to growl and snarl as silence fell in the room in front of him; this could not be happening. Had he had lost his Alice to the Knave? Did she feel for him or did he force her?

No longer able to control the now enraged monster beneath his skin, Tarrant stormed towards his room, leaving the hat and a path of destruction behind him. Once in his own room, hell was unleashed upon his many possessions, destroying most of them. Tea cups and their pots lay in shards on the floor, hats and material torn to shreds and nearly all the beautifully hand carved, wooden furniture was crushed into mere splinters. Tarrant's eyes were a deep yellow, burning with hatred; his hands trembled as he stood on the middle of what was once a beautiful room.

Eyes wide, chest heaving and blood trickling down from the various cut in his flesh, the Hatter stood rigid and unmoving for hours; it was only when the darkness consumed him did he fall to the floor and finally rest. If only he knew that the beast inside had taken charge and was now using his body as a vessel, maybe he wouldn't have closed his eyes.

Morning in Alice's room smelt of sandalwood and sex. Alice woke with the presences of someone behind her; the person was tall with long limbs and shoulder length hair. The person made a groaning noise as they stretched and rolled over, taking the blanket with him. Cold air froze Alice's naked body and caused her eyes to snap open. She looked around to find that her blanket was gone and tried to retrieve it with little success; instead Alice decided that it was time to get up.

The stone floor was cold and uninviting as usual, but it felt colder today. Soon Alice was dressed in some everyday clothes and went to check the time only to find that the clock was gone, and then she remembered her wrist and why it was throbbing. She rubbed it gently, but it hurt too much to continue; inspection showed that it was slightly swollen and very red.

Alice thought that she might skip breakfast and make a trip to the Hatter to get more of that cream instead, but something in her stomach told her that it was a bad idea. She shook it off as hunger pains and went to the dining hall for breakfast after all.

The dining hall was alive with chatter as usual, some of which stopped as she walked by. Once Alice made it up to the head of the table she bowed to the Queen before piling food onto her plate and began to eat. She was halfway through her meal when the hall fell silent' Alice didn't take any notice at first until she noticed slow footsteps filling the room. Quickly finishing her mouthful, Alice looked up to see the Knave walking towards her with a worried look on his face.

It must have been slightly unnerving to have every pair of eyes on you as you tried to walk anywhere, but Alice had to admit that Stayne was taking it a lot better than she would have. He eventually sat in the chair the Hatter normally sat, grabbed a plate with some eggs and bacon on it and began eating. No one had moved or spoken for a long time.

"Oh honestly people, you all saw him last night' there's no need to stare." Mirana's voice echoed through the silent hall, but once the words left her mouth the volume in the room crept higher.

"Thank you, Your Highness," The Knave nodded his head, "I apologise, I didn't wish to draw this much attention."

"No need to apologise Ilosovic, these people need to learn to keep their noses out of other peoples business." The Queen smiled.

The rest of the meal was eaten with light conversation' McTwisp had come and gone, although Thackery insisted on staying to thank Stayne again for his present and Mally had enquired as to if anyone had seen Tarrant, but none had.

"He might be in his quarters." Alice suggested.

"Already been there and he ain't there, although it looks like the Bandersnatch might have been." Mally said before taking a sip of tea.

"What do you mean? The Bandersnatch slept in my bathroom; he hasn't even woken up yet." Alice looked at Stayne then back to Mally.

"His rooms are trashed; everything's on the floor, even the furniture's broken." She leaned closer and had a serious look on her face, "I reckon he's had a breakdown, it's that time of the year you know."

"I can't say I do know." Alice crinkled her nose in confusion.

"This is the anniversary of when…"

"When I was ordered to retrieve the Vorpal sword from the White Queen, many of the Hatter's family members were killed; the ones who weren't, left and vowed to never return." Stayne interrupted, "I watched as the Jabberwocky destroyed the houses and their inhabitants; knowing I could do something to stop it and yet I just stood there, I…"

Suddenly Ilosovic slammed the table making a few people jump; he stood and walked briskly toward the dining room door, but was stopped by a rather distressed McTwisp who ran right into his legs. The rabbit was out of breath and was more frantic than normal; he quickly apologised then made his way to the Queen. Ilosovic's interest was peaked and decided to hang around to see what was so important.

McTwisp rushed to the head of the table, bowed deeply and breathed even deeper before he announced his message.

"Your Majesty," He took a few more deep breaths, "Iracebeth is dead."

Mirana gasped and stood, "How? She was in isolation. No one was to make contact with her until tomorrow; we were going to question her."

"It looks like a suicide." McTwisp answered.

"That's impossible." The Queen turned pale.

"Then it's bound to be the right answer." Alice said mindlessly and with that Mirana fainted.

Stayne, who had been walking closer throughout the conversation, was able to catch her before she hit the floor; his face burned with anger.

"There's more," McTwisp continued, "She left a message for Alice."

Ilosovic almost dropped the Queen, but managed to keep a firm hold on her; instead of risking it again he placed he in her chair and signalled a servant over to tend to her. Glances were shared between a couple of people and Alice knew it was her duty to inspect the situation, but she really didn't want to.

As if sensing her discomfort the Knave spoke, "I'll come with you, she got off too easily."

Alice nodded and walked back to her rooms where she quickly changed into her armour, grabbed her sword and woke the Bandersnatch up to take her down to the dungeons. She met up with Stayne halfway through and together they walked deeper into the belly of the castle to the seldom used dungeons. Alice's heart was beating fiercely in her chest; she would have never had to deal with something like this at home. They were standing in front of Iracebeth's cell and the stench on stale blood infected the air, burning their nostrils.

"The body has been removed for an autopsy, but the message is still there." McTwisp was shaking terribly.

"Thank McTwisp; you may leave if you wish." No sooner had Alice spoke, the rabbit was nowhere to be seen.

Taking a deep breath, Alice stepped inside the lowly lit cell, followed by Stayne and two chess pieces who agreed to stand in as guards. She looked around the cell to find the message on the side wall; it was written in blood that had long since dried. As Alice walked closer she tried not to think about the fact that her shoes were sticking to the floor. Signalling to one of the guards, they brought over a candle and held it up to the wall so that the message was better lit.

The writing was smeared and blood had seeped into other letters; Alice felt this little bit of breakfast she had eaten, threatening to show itself again as she leaned closer to the wall of death. The message took up the whole wall, which didn't say much about the miniscule holding cell; with four people in there, there was little room to move if any at all.

Alice read it aloud, "Dear Alice, I hope you have had fun in Wonderland and Will continue to enjoy you days Here. I do wish we could have chatted and maybe Even gotten to know each other better, but that was not the case. Please Remember that your friends are special and your Enemies are dangerous, watch them So that you have a better insight into How they work.

I don't Apologise for my actions in The past, I only hope That you know that I had my reasons and Stayne had his. Both of us were Evil in a way; me for killing and him for following me through the darkness. I would have Rather died fighting or at least wearing the crown, but I saw no other way to Give you this message and make sure you received it in time. There is Only a little bit of time left and you must hurry if you wish to prevent this war; just because I'm gone does Not mean that things are okay and everything is over. It's not. Don't ask why I'm helping you; just know that Every minute that goes by is another minute closer to your end.

I have a riddle for you: the answer is home, what's the question?

Sincerely yours, Iracebeth."

Silence followed Alice, but it was soon broken.

"I don't understand, why would she give us the answer to a riddle instead of the question?" Stayne almost pushed Alice out of the way to get a better look at the message, he was clearly annoyed.

"Because she has given us the question." Alice stated still staring at the message.

"That is a long message to write in your own blood." One of the guards commented and the other nodded his head.

"It's not like she could ask for a quill and ink well," Alice's gaze still didn't move.

"You red it aloud, we all heard you; she never asked us a riddle Alice, it was probably a joke to confuse us." Ilosovic put his hand on her shoulder.

"Please just trust me, look at it more carefully." Alice pleaded, "It's in here somewhere."

An hour ticked by with Alice and the Knave staring at the blood soaked wall. It was hard to read the message because the blood had dripped down before it dried, but that didn't mean Alice was going to stop looking. Suddenly her eyes went wide as a light bulb in her head illuminated itself; the answer, or rather the question, to the riddle was right there staring back at her. It wasn't in fine print, big print or even a direct question; instead it was written within the actual message.

"I found it!" Alice yelled, startling the guards and Ilosovic.

"Well? Don't just keep it to yourself." Ilosovic grabbed Alice; tearing her gaze away from the wall.

"Look carefully," Alice started pointing out singular letters, "There are unnecessary capitals throughout the whole thing."

Stayne leaned into the wall and followed the capital letters that didn't belong; he counted sixteen. "What does it say." He asked.

Alice slowly sounded out the letters as she saw them, then spoke, "It says: where's Hatter gone?"

They both looked at each other and said, "Home."

"But where's the Hatters home?" Alice asked.

A stabbing pain shot through Stayne's chest, "I know where it is, but it's not going to be pretty."

* * *

**(A/N)**

**Cliffhanger! Do you hate me? Because I wouldn't blame you... Please don't hurt me... 3**

**Next chapter will be longer and more action packed, I promise, but for now feel free to rage at your screens and dream of chopping my head off!**

**REVIEW!**


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